It's all restrictions... is it not

"No gambling.

No alcohol.

No interest.

No pork... and that's the tastiest meat!

So, surely then,

with all these restrictions,

there must be things that you can do which we can't?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

Looking at it from the wrong angle

it didn't hit me at the time:

Life's a test is what it is.

Nothing more.

The joy is in accepting it,

in knowing from where we came and to where we're gone.

God guide me

God, I love You and You have no equal.

Nothing more do I want than to find You and You guide the beseecher.

Dua: Allah's Perfect Words

(1) I seek refuge with Allah's Perfect Words
(2) from earning His displeasure,
(3) and from the evil of His slaves,
(4) the promptings of the devils
(5) and from that they come to me.

(1) a3oodhu bi kalimaatillaahi-ttaammati
(2) min ghaDhabihi
(3) wa sharri 3ibaadihi
(4) wa min hamazaati-shayaaTeeni
(5) wa an ya7Dhuroon[i]

Winners consult, losers mope!

مَا خَابَ مَنْ اِسْتَشَارَ
وَ لَا نَدِمَ مَنْ اِسْتَخَارَ

maa khaaba man istashaara
wa laa nadima man istakhaara

He never loses, the one who consults others.
And never does he regret, the one who consulted God.

Questioning the Qur'anic human creation story

The sequence of events in Surah Al-A'raaf (has) had me puzzled for quite a while:

• God creates Adam and Hawwa (Verse 11);
• they are to reside in Paradise (as we are to find out in Verse 19);
• the angels and Iblees are commanded by God to prostrate to Adam (Verse 11);
• Iblees refuses (Verse 11);
• Iblees is told by God to get down from Paradise (Verse 13);
• Iblees asks for respite until the day that they (Adam, Hawwa and their offspring) are raised up (from death, for judgement; Verse 14);
• God grants Iblees this respite (Verse 15).

My first question was: given that Adam and Hawwa were residing in Paradise and Iblees asks for respite until the day that they are raised, does this imply that there would have been death and accountability despite them being in Paradise? But I guess this is answered in that God had earlier said to the angels that He would place successive generations on earth (Surah al-Baqarah, Verse 30), and Iblees was the most learned of the angels (though himself of Jinn-kind).

My second question then is: has Iblees been granted respite and leave to roam in and out of Paradise until the Day of Judgement, given that He must have entered Paradise to have misled Adam and Hawwa as he did (Verses 20-22)? And how do we consolidate this with God's saying to Iblees in Verse 18 to get out from Paradise disgraced and expelled (this after Iblees was granted respite in Verse 15) ?

Another point that sticks out is Iblees' remarkable acknowledgement in Verse 16 that God has sent him astray, but going to leave that for another day...

God mould me

O God let me not meet You

until You build me ready:

gentle

free from weakness

strong

free from harshness

devout

free from incapability.

The oddity of God's trading policy

"Indeed Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties [in exchange] for that they will have Paradise..." (Al-Qur'an, 9:111)

How odd God's trading policy is.
He gives each one of us a life we did not have,
and makes clear that our provision is fixed;
we'll get what we're due to get
so no need to worry
and better to work for it than beg or swindle it.

Now here's the odd part:
any time we sell back a small part of our time, wealth or self,
we get yet more of what we sold
and along with it a share in Paradise to suit!
How strange a deal where both
what is bought and what is sold is the property of the purchaser.

Wealth and faith

How is it
I tell myself
I'll be at peace
were I to secure wealth

And yet
my mind knows
comfort is not in material
but a faith to be protected within my heart...

Friendship and Faith

In verse 9:67
the 'hypocrites' are described as
"one from from another": ba3Dhuhum min ba3Dh.
A few verses later (9:71),
the 'believers' are compared & described differently:
"awliyaa [helpers/friends] of one another"; ba3Dhuhum awliyaa'u ba3Dh.
This raises the question:
why the difference in wording?
If nothing else,
these verses release a hint about the nature of relationships
between true believers,
and relationships between those lacking in faith.
Whereas a person lacking faith in God
will tend to base his relationships on self-interest,
a person of faith
is expected to base his relationships on heart-to-heart friendship:
wishing & doing well for the other.
His friendship & concern ultimately acts of submission to God,
and thus constant,
remaining the same under all conditions.
Lasting; the mark of this faith.

Language

To increase the commitment of my message,
to be persuasive, engaging, confident,
so the advice goes,
words that water down my message,
words like "hopefully", "quite" and "I'll do my best";
negatives and baggage,
should be omitted.

This has me questioning then:
where does this put the phrase "... if God wills"?
Because,
acknowledging my weakness
and the bounds of my control,
carries the hint that I might not deliver,
and in the business world, it's promise that matters most...

Sadaqah unfolded

To give 'sadaqah', according to common usage of the word,
is to put forward a good deed in the path leading to God.
Inspecting the word deeper,
one finds its roots in the word 'sidq': truth,
& the one who gives in 'sadaqah'
does nothing but purport the truth of his faith.

Prosperity as punishment

"So let not their wealth nor their children amaze you.
In reality, Allah's Plan is to punish them with these very things
in the life of this world..." (9:55)

Question:
What does it mean that the wealth & children of those afflicted with hypocrisy
(may God protect us!)
will be a form of punishment for them?

Mufti Muhammad Shafi comments in his Ma'ariful Qur'an:
"... One starts with desires to acquire wealth,
& then goes through a series of hardships to establish the necessary channels,
day in & day out, sacrificing sleep, comfort & family life.
After that, if he succeeds, come the concerns of increasing & retaining it...
There is no respite for him...
[And if things do not go according to his desires,] despair takes over.
What is this, if not punishment?..."

The intensity of revelation

Trying to put Qur'an into perspective in the days leading up to Ramadhan
and thought I'd share my thoughts...

On occasion,
so much intensity would be generated
with the descent of revelation upon God's Messenger
that the animal he was riding on
would sit down,
wilting under the weight.

At other times,
though it would be winter
and the weather chilly,
he would perspire;
beads of sweat dropping from his blessed forehead
like rolling pearls.

... SallAllhu 3alayhi wa sallam.

Love, the lover, and the beloved

Seen this in Asian parents and to some extent Arabs too
and not sure if it's a cultural thing or a more global phenomena
but I find parents exaggerate
in communicating the achievements of their children.

Not only that but it begs the question also:
do parents do so out of a dissatisfaction
of how they envisioned their child should have turned out
or is it genuine love that blinds them to reality?

Maybe this is also related to how Messengers and Prophets,
men divinely inspired, God's peace and blessings be on them all,
over time
come to take, in the eyes of their beloved, the status of deities.

Character lost

What ever happened to character?...
The essence of a man,
the condition of his heart:
honest intent, genuinity;
praying good for another,
emanating deep from within his inner core...
To now, a mere art to master, and no more:
a guise, a smile, a flattering comment,
empty, and if not,
laden, with the desire to manipulate,
to impress, to be liked, to be recognised;
a gesture all about me; all for me, naught from me,
because backward, out of time, out of place,
looked down upon, is straightforward sincerity.

What to look for in a spouse

Religion, conduct and looks aside...
a sense of appreciation, and loyalty;
the absence of unrealistic expectations.

The seeds of love to grow with time...
not that I know, not at all.
Just an hypothesis based on observation of reciprocally happy spouses.

May God unite their hearts and keep them happy always.

What am I going to do today?

"What am I going to do today?"
says the man depending on his self
ending each day unfulfilled
unable to meet his wants,
until he poses the question again,
rising in strength,
"What is God going to do with me today?"

Comfortable, ready, open for all that may.

Disciplining children effectively

Sound advice attributed to Moulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi (may God bestow Mercy upon him) in Mufti Taqi Uthmani's 'Discourses on the Islamic Way of Life', chapter on 'How to bring up children', adapted here ever so slightly...

When you have to hit your child,
refrain from doing so in anger.

Instead, wait until your anger subsides,
closing your eyes and taking in a deep breath if necessary,
fake your anger and then hit the child.

This is to be clear in your intention:
to discipline the child, and not to vent your frustation.
Anger unchecked will propel you over the edge.

Warn your families and guard your selves

"And enjoin upon your family prayer, and be constant on it."

Strange, no?
We are commanded first to enjoin prayer upon our family
and thereafter to regularly observe it ourselves.
The other way around in sequence I would have expected it.
One to think about and investigate.

That's verse number 132 of Surah Taa-Haa by the way; the 20th Surah.

O believer

O you who believe
Your Lord calls you
with a most endearing call.
Naught does He address you
except in that which is your connection,
'O you with belief in Me'.

Between hope and fear

Cautious, wary, treading carefully
the fearful.
Positive, active, yearning mercy
the hopeful.
Between the two
the faithful.

A perfect faith
Between hope and fear.
A balance struck.
Fear; so much as to counteract hope.
Hope; so much as to counteract fear.
The two wings of a believer flying him home to His Lord.

O Allah, apportion us with fear of You so much so that acts as a barrier between us and disobedience to You.

Congratulations resistant soul...

Congratulations for the one who never found pleasure praying,
never throughout his life,
yet he persisted
in obedience to God's command.

Congratulations on him who continued praying
through compulsion and heaviness,
finding no enjoyment,
of an increased reward.

Congratulations
for enthusiasm was never demanded,
nor a condition for the acceptance of deeds,
only sincerity.

O Allah, accept from us our deeds. Indeed You are the All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

Dhikr

A man who remembers God in his heart
builds on his relationship with God.
As the remembrance increases, deepens and strengthens
so the love of God starts to find settlement in his heart.
He begins to feel unease around sin,
distant from cruelty, unwilling to violate the rights of others.
His being begins to grow fit
for the peace, serenity and joy of Paradise that awaits.

(Some thoughts thought(!) whilst reading a passage in Mufti Taqi Uthmani's Spiritual Discourses Volume 4 about how 'Dhikr' is beneficial for us ourselves and does not benefit God or increase His dominion in any way.)

Muhammad - Example for the East and the West

Attended this course last Saturday ('Muhammad - Example for the East and the West') conducted by Shaykh Akram Nadwi and organised by Cambridge Islamic Science Seminars.

Nice course. Not too structured but beneficial nonetheless. (Or, to put it more positively, quite free in its delivery.) Anyhoo, a point I liked and wanted to share: He (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) did not come to teach us those things which we can learn from experience. He came to teach us 'uboodiyyah', i.e. how to be grateful slaves of the Most Merciful. One to think about it. There was also much emphasis on reducing the time we spend consuming/preparing food (three prepared meals daily the shaykh felt was unnecessary) and mention of discarding our televisions (and internet joy browsing I guess too) for increased productivity in our days/lives.

The Language of God

I'm coming to the end of Francis Collins' 'The Language of God'. For one of the leading scientists in the world and who for 220 pages really impressed me with the way he balanced/juggled religion/spirituality and science, he now has me scratching my head in bewilderment. Having throughout the book described God as being not bound by (i.e. independent of) time, space and so on, he on page 221 not only states that God is (was) Jesus (who was bound by time and space of course) but also that Jesus was the son of God which of course contradicts God being Jesus (as claimed earlier in the page)! Going to finish this book insha-Allah and I've found new impetus to pick up and continue with Muhammad Ata'ur-Rahim's 'Jesus, Prophet of Islam' again. Going to write a mega article insha-Allah (mega in content not size!... insha-Allah) consolidating the two books and my own personal thoughts/reflections. Plan on making appointments and having discussions at the local churches and buddhist centres with the heads there (and elsewhere too insha-Allah) during the course of this article to figure out what people actually believe (i.e. the core fundamental "crux of the matter" stuff, not the "be nice to others" etc cliches which [almost] everyone religious or not accords to anyway).