Beautiful story. Inspirational enough to want to share it. They don’t make love stories the way they used to. Hollywood / Bollywood pales in comparison.
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
Tag: muslim
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Asmaa’ bint Yazeed رضي الله عنها reported that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
“Shall I tell you who is the best of you?”
They replied: “Yes”.
He صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “Those who remind you of Allah when you see them.”
He went on to say: “Shall I tell you about the most evil ones from amongst you?”
They said: “Of course.”
He صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “Those who go around with Nameemah. They make enmity between friends and they seek problems for the innocent.”
“Musnad” of Imaam Ahmad and al-Bukhaaree in “Al-Adab Al-Mufrad” (323) and graded as “Hasan” by Shaikh al-Albaanee
I’m often reminded of this hadith when I engage with many learned members of the Ummah. Some pretend to be more learned than others, but in most of my interactions, I’ve found that those who profess to be truer adherents of the Sunnah often had the most repulsive of manners. I’ve seen learned men, and men recognised as leading scholars of their time and in their communities speak with condescension and aloofness about those that did not agree with them, or revere their opinions.But similarly, as someone recently posted, it’s often those most humble without realising it, and those most subdued in their proclamation of virtues and practises that are the ones that have reminded me of Allah most. Rarely have I been reminded of Allah at the sight of an imam, or others that claim scholarly and leadership titles to embellish their profiles. Most often, those that maintain an overt appearance with distinction lack sincerity and moderation in their rebuking of others.
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The Gift of Children
“and children as [love’s] witnesses,” [74:13] Muhammad Asad
I was reading The Qur’an yesterday, and as I was taking notes, on the issue of how The Qur’an explains who God guides to Faith, but it was this seemingly innocuous ayah, one that follows one of the most important ayahs in The Qur’an, that truly caught my attention.
As you know, yesterday, alhamdulilah, my family welcomed a new member, and this ayah jumped out at me. This portion of this Surah is talking about how God has bestowed upon us countless gifts, limitless potential, and yet there are those who discount those and “greedily desires that I [God] give yet more!” [74:15]
What struck me was that children are not described as gifts, as they are in other parts of The Qur’an (most notably how The Qur’an describes daughters as something to be very happy about) but that in this instance, the children are given a very different role: as witnesses to our appreciation of what God has bestowed upon us.
I am not a parent, but, I have been trying to make sense of this formulation. Muhammad Asad injects the word “love” as a implied construct to the witnessing, which I more-or-less agree with, yet there remains a deeper element, one that I think is linked towards our judgment by God.
I have come to this conclusion because of the context of the Surah in question, Surah Al-Muddaththir, which covers the concept of afterlife and how we get there. I think this because, while we joke about marriage as a process in which we “complete half of our deen,” I feel like children (and our spouse) are the major reason for that formulation. These are the people who will be in your direct care, who will experience your character, your emotions, your actions, more than any other group of people.
Your spouse may be able to divorce you, but your children, no matter what happens, will always reflect your actions in this world because of how you introduce them to it. Whether you abandon them, give them up for adoption, nurture them, whatever it is you do, they are the ultimate reflection of you, and thus this innocuous phrase, placing children as “witnesses” makes sense to me, when I look at it this way.
I may have been drawn to this ayah because of being in a maternity ward, but I look at it now as one of the major proofs of how The Qur’an puts an immense premium on our actions and dealings with others, and I am saddened (especially every time there is a tumblr “flare up”) because I have been so impressed by the dedication and faithfulness to Islam by the Tumblr Muslim Ummah, that to watch us forget our akhlaq, our manners, with each other, over things we could debate (properly) if only we remembered what The Book we debate over commands us to do.
This ayah also underlined how we must readjust ourselves, our mindset, and our hearts when approaching having children of our own. I have heard those who bemoan their children, as if they are infringements upon their freedom; those children did not ask to be brought into this world, you did. The world that these innocents will be brought into, their entire approach will be directed by you, and I hope that as Muslims, we can take this message to heart, and to illustrate to the world, through our actions and our children (insha Allah) that Islam is not just a belief, but a true way of life.
It is our children that will reflect us the most, and while we may be great people, and nice to our friends, it is how we treat and deal with the ultimate trust, our children, that reflects our character more than anything. What we do, on a daily basis is what defines us, maybe not to our friends and co-workers, but to God and those who matter most: our children. It is our children that display the bifurcation between the person who is conscious of their Islam personally and those who are conscious of Islam completely.
Finally, this ayah underlines something that many times Muslim youth struggle with: adhering to their parents. Many times we are just being bratty, but other times, I am sure there are cases where the parents are not upholding their duties, which must be horrible. Thus, it is this ayah that underlines to us that in order to expect obedience from our children, we must fulfill their trust in us as their parents. If the simple fact that these children are from you cannot motivate you, I hope that God’s command does.
I pray for the children who do not have their parents, and for those of us who do that we appreciate that fact; I pray for those of us who have misunderstandings with our parents to overcome them and realize what is more important in life; I pray for those who are or who will become parents to have the patience and fortitude to care and nurture their children; I pray for the Muslim youth, to realize their potential, to rise to action, to forsake rhetoric for deeds, and to show this world that Islam is not just in our hearts, not just on our tongues, but in the good that we will tirelessly work towards; insha Allah, I pray that we can fulfill the commands of Almighty God with sincerity, ya Rabb.
Ameen.
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Simple Challenge of an Average Muslim
Many years ago I relocated from Johannesburg to Cape Town for a work contract. On my arrival in Cape Town, I found a place to stay in a predominantly non-Muslim neighbourhood since it was close to the office, and there were mosques within driving distance. This was before the time of magnetometers in mobile phones, and I didn’t have a compass of my own yet either. So I used the rudimentary method of finding the direction of the Qibla relative to the position of the sun.
I stood in my living room, plotted the path of the setting sun with my left hand, held my right arm out in front of me perpendicular to the position of the sun, and adjusted it slightly to the right to cater for the average of seven degrees east of north for the direction of the Qibla in South Africa. Seemed simple enough, so I performed my salaah at home facing this direction. I recall clearly using the gap between two mountains (Lion’s Head and Table Mountain) to note the position of the sun.
Over the next few days, I found myself inclined to shift my direction to the right whilst performing salaah. Each time I completed my salaah, I felt a strong urge to move the prayer mat which I did. After about three or four days, this feeling settled, with my prayer mat now almost thirty degrees further to the right than where I had originally started.
That weekend I made a point of getting myself a decent compass. So I bought one in the Suunto range, which according to a friend that is an avid hiker, was a good choice. Upon using it to confirm my direction for the Qibla, I discovered that it was indeed in the direction I stopped at after moving my mat based on that feeling I had, and not the direction I had originally calculated with my arms. That moment was a truly memorable one for me. As simple as it was, it made me feel connected with Allah in a way I had never imagined. I felt guided. It felt good.
Later that year, as the seasons changed, I noticed that the sun didn’t set in the same spot as it did when I first moved into that apartment. I suddenly realised how little I knew of the wonders of nature, and how vague the statement is regarding the sun rising in the east and setting in the west. I guess more accurately, it generally rises in an easterly direction and sets in a generally westerly direction. 🙂
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Muslim vs. Mu’Min
One thing that always annoys me about these endless debates about sects and madhabs is simply this…how much of what you’re debating has any impact on your Imaan? Given that the majority of Muslims are focused on the rituals of Islam and most don’t understand or appreciate the principles behind it, it’s easy to see why the debates are always around the practises rather than the principles.
It’s tiring being a Muslim at times, but forever rewarding to be a Mu’min. There’s too many Muslims and too few Mu’mins. And that’s not just a play on words, because at some point it may be worth noting that Allah refers to the followers as Mu’min in the Qur’an more than ever referring to them as Muslims. There’s wisdom in that. I wish that all our wannabe scholars will apply this at some point so that we stop getting bombarded with these exhausting debates and in fact can start sharing true naseeha about how to deal with life rather than how to interpret history.
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Madhabs…why?
“Rasulullah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Make things easy! And do not make them complicated! Be cheerful! And do not be repulsive.””
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Bukhari (via oneislam)
This hadith echoes the thoughts in my head right now. Whenever I find myself delayed in the performance of my dhuhr salaah, I have to fight the tendency to want to debate (in my head) whether I should refer to the Shaf’i or Hanafi madhab to determine whether or not it is still permissible for me to perform dhuhr.
I’ve chosen to follow the Shaf’i view on this. My reason being that I cannot see how it would be possible for two Muslims (a Shaf’i and a Hanafi) to be standing side by side, with one performing Dhuhr and the other performing Asr at exactly the same time, and have both of their salaah accepted as having been read within the prescribed window for that prayer. It’s illogical!
Islam always makes sense to me. Logical sense. This situation defies logic. So for this reason (amongst others) I find it impossible to respect these differences between the madhabs. If the Shaf’i followers believe that they are acting within the bounds of the Sunnah, and the Hanafi followers also believe that they’re acting within these same bounds, then is it not possible that in fact a combination of the two madhabs are in fact within the bounds of the Sunnah anyway?
The more I try to rationalise this, the more entangled I feel! But I refuse to apply a label to myself in the process other than being a Mu’min (a Believer!) and nothing else. Unless something was specifically forbidden, I will make it as easy as possible for me to practise my deen. This world is insane enough as it is, let alone the enormous trials that are placed on anyone that resists hedonism or liberalism. Anyone trying to live a decent, respectable, and modest life, regardless of religious persuasion, is fighting against the massive currents of corruption, immodesty, and vulgarity. Add to this the ridiculous burdens placed on top of Muslims to try to determine which one of the madhabs we’re supposed to follow and the numerous debates and arguments and inconsistencies that go with that, and it’s not difficult to understand why the youth are so rebellious these days.
We’ve created a legacy of Islam that is prone to ridicule, and we fool ourselves by arrogantly believing that we’re standing out because we’re the strangers that Rasulullah (SAW) referred to. I doubt that we are. I think that the moment we align with a group that considers itself to be of those strangers, we cease to be strangers and therefore cannot ever be certain of our status. Yet we persist in our divisions, and our sects and our folly with words and interpretations and man-endowed titles of scholarly supremacy!
Just the thought of it all is horribly disheartening.
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The Mecca Clock Tower dominates the city as Muslim pilgrims walking around the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque of the holy city of Mecca during the annual Hajj pilgrimage rituals on November 7, 2011. (Fayez Nureldine/AFP/Getty Images)
You’ve just gotta love that symbol of Diana, goddess of the Hunt towering over the Haram of Makkah. Muslims must really be proud of such colossal ignorance. But of course, at times like this, we’ll pretend it doesn’t matter because it’s intention that counts, right? And of course, if the Saudi’s do it, it must be right…after all, they’re the esteemed custodians of the two holy mosques, right?
May Allah protect me from such blasphemy, and such ignorance, and grant me the strength to continue to abstain from those places dedicated to His worship that have been defaced with this disgusting symbol of kufr! Aameen…Thumma Aameen…Ya Rabbul A’lameen!
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the72sects:
For the sake of brevity, I’ve omitted the original parts of this post which can be found here. In response to brad-t: Firstly, if you read my blog, you’ll note that I am totally against radical or irrational responses to the slander that is heaped against Islam and Muslims. So…
Unfortunately you choose to read into my posts whatever perspective suits your argument best. There’s no implicit justification of either, and if there was, let me clear that up for you now. Every action comes with the responsibility of accepting the accountability of the backlash or response that it will get. Assuming anything less is naively liberal and impractical in the real world. It’s not just about sensitivity but about respect as well. Don’t selectively paraphrase what the Quran contains about scientific content. Or would you assume to know more than esteemed Western scholars of medicine that confirmed the accuracy of both the detail and the sequence of embryology as described in the Quran? And no, the Quran does not stop at stating that sperm is required for procreation. Furthermore, assuming that there is even an iota of credibility to your claim that the ancient Greeks knew all this before the Arabs around 600 AD, pray tell would you hazard a theory on how an unlettered prophet that never left the peninsula came across such knowledge, and then related in such eloquent poetry that not even the most accomplished of poets of the time could equal it? Before you answer that, you should study the importance of poetical eloquence and the social status it carries in the Arab world before assuming that it was something that was taken lightly. By the way, if you assume that the publisher did not do anything wrong, then why does your secular system of justice allow for crimen injuria? Surely then everyone is entitled to their opinion about anything and everything regardless of how insensitive, blasphemous or slanderous it may be? Besides, who decides who has the moral high ground to begin with? If I were to listen to you, I’d have to believe that it would be the self-proclaimed progressives. It’s all relative, isn’t it? All the more reason to show respect and consideration for the belief system of others. If it doesn’t concern you, leave it alone. A simple rule that would find the world in a much better place instead of looking for deliberately inflammatory content of a sector of society that had nothing to do with them, yet they found it necessary to vilify its followers? Oh, let me guess, by me presenting this view, you will once again assume that I am defending the action of the Muslims in this case. So again, NO, I’m not! Just trying to get you to understand that nothing is ever as cut and dried as you’d like to paint it to be. Beyond this, we’ll have to agree to disagree. And no, I won’t take out a fatwa to have your house fire bombed, or your blog hacked. 🙂 Peace.
