08.18.09
Ounce of prevention, pound of cure
Repel the thought, for if you don’t, it becomes an idea. So repel the idea, for if you don’t it will become a desire. So fight against that (desire), for if you don’t, it will become a determination and a passion. And if you don’t repel that, it will become an action. And if you don’t replace it with its opposite, it will become a constant habit. So at that point, it will be difficult for you to change it.
- Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah [from al-Fawaa'id]
05.03.09
Salaah is a light
Hadith 23
On the authority of Abu Malik al-Harith bin ‘Asim al-Ash’ari, radiyallahu ‘anhu, who said: The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, said:
“Purification is half of iman (faith). Saying ‘Al-Hamdulillah’ (Praise be to Allah) fills the scales. Saying ‘Subhanallah wa al-Hamdulillahi’ (Exhalted be Allah and Praise be to Allah) fills the space between the heavens and the earth. Salah (prayer) is a light. Sadaqah (charity) is a proof. Sabr (patience) is a shining glory. The Qur’an is an argument either for you or against you. Everybody goes out in the morning and sell themselves, thereby setting themselves free or destroying themselves.”
5 Ingredients…
“The medicine of the heart is five things:
Reading Qur’aan and pondering the meaning,
Having an empty stomach,
Praying qiyaam al-layl,
Beseeching Allaah at the time of suhoor,
And keeping company with righteous people.”
-Yahya Ibn Mu’aadh
03.22.09
Lessons of the Day
03.15.09
*Amazing* !
Ustaadh Nou’man Ali Khan
True Salvation
Do You Intend to Question Your Messenger?
Pearls of Wisdom
2. Generosity goes hand in hand with compassion. If you have no compassion you cannot have generosity.
3. All adversity is really an opportunity for our souls to grow; all adversity is really a form of growing pain.
4. A truly wise person will have the wisdom to know what he can do, accept what he can’t do, and have the generosity of spirit to extend himself in ways that can make a difference.
5. To hold a grudge against anyone is like carrying the devil on your shoulders.
6. Two things, at minimum, are needed——-an ability to appreciate the positives in our life, and a commitment to action to do good..
7. Peace of mind has nothing to do with the external world; it has only to do with our connection with God.
8. The fact that you are praying and meditating is not as important as how much good you bring back from your prayer and meditation.
9. Often it is the lowest points in life that we learn the most. Those low moments are the magical moments. They are the beginning stages of our journey to our Lord.
03.07.09
Pearls of Wisdom
1. A friend cannot be considered a friend until he is tested on three occasions—- in time of need; behind your back; and after your death. [Ali radi Allah anhu]
2. One of your sins should seem weightier to you than a thousand of your virtues. [Imam Ja'far al Sadiq]
3. There can be no good in excess, just as there is no excess in good. [Imam Abu Hanifah]
4. If there is a good deed which is difficult, hold on to it, for in the end, the good deed will remain and the difficulty will perish. [Ali radi Allah anhu]
5. To be humble is to accept the truth and submit to it even if you heard it from a child or someone who is uneducated or ignorant. [Fudhayl ibn Iyaadh]
6. Even if you studied for a hundred years and collected a thousand books, you would not be eligible for the mercy of Allah except through action. [Imam al Ghazali]
7. Live as long as you want, but you must die; love whatever you want, but you will become separated from it; and do what you want, but you will be repaid for it. [Imam al Ghazali]
8. Allah loves the voice of the one who recites the Qur’an, and the voice of the one who seeks forgiveness before dawn break. [Sufyan al Thawri]
9. Knowledge without action is madness and action without knowledge is void. [Imam al Ghazali]
10. Know that the knowledge which does not remove you from sins today and does not convert you to obedience, will not remove you tomorrow from the Hell fire. [Imam al Ghazali]
02.26.09
*Birr/True Righteousness*
“By no means shall you attain to righteousness until you spend (benevolently) out of what you love; and whatever thing you spend, Allah surely knows it.”
~ Quraan al-Kareem (Surah Aali-’Imraan, 3:92)
A Sin that Leads to Jannah
“Sin may be more beneficial for a person, if it leads him to repent, than doing a lot of acts of worship. This is what is meant by the words of one of the salaf:
‘A person may commit a sin and enter Paradise because of it, or he may do an act of worship and enter Hell because of it.’
They said: ‘How is that?’
So the sin may be the factor that leads him to do acts of worship and good deeds and to change his attitude so that he fears Allah and feels shy before Him and feels humiliated before Him, hanging his head in shame and weeping with regret, seeking he forgiveness of his Lord. Each of these effects is better for a person than an act of worship that makes him feel proud and show off and look down on people. Undoubtedly this sin is better before Allah and is more likely to bring salvation than one who admires himself and looks down on others, and who thinks that he is doing Allah a favour. Even if he says words that indicate something other than that, Allah is the Witness over what is in his heart. Such a person may feel hatred towards people if they do not hold him in high esteem and humiliate themselves before him. If he were to examine himself honestly, he would see that clearly.”
