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.