Tawheed First

Ibn al-Qayyim says: “For the tongue does not keep quiet at all. It is either a tongue that remembers or a tongue that is frivolous and it has to be one of these two.

It is the (nature of the) soul; if you do not preoccupy it with truth, it will occupy you with falsehood. It is the (nature of the) heart; if you do not accommodate it with love of Allaah, it will dwell with love of creation and this is a certain reality. It is the (nature of the) tongue; if you do not preoccupy it with remembrance, it will most definitely occupy you with frivolity.

Thus, choose for your own self one of the two courses and confer upon it one of the two standings.”

• Source:Al-Waabil as-Sayyib | Pgs. 166-167 | Ibn al-Qayyim
• Transcribed from: Causes Behind the Increase and Decrease of Eemaan | ‘Abdur-Razzq al-‘Abbaad

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“Truthfulness is a noble character that can only be possessed by people of sound hearts.”

All praise is due to Allaah, Lord of the worlds. May peace and blessings of Allaah be upon the Messenger, his household and companions.

Fellow Muslims! Fear Allaah by abiding by His commandments and abstaining from all that He forbids, for fear of Allaah is the gateway to all good while disobedience and sin is the gateway to all evil. Be aware that one’s position with his Lord depends on his faith and conduct and that man’s value before Allaah and His slaves depends on his faith and good deeds; and not on his wealth and strength. Allaah says:

“And it is not your wealth, not your children that bring you nearer to Us, but only he who believes and does righteous deeds; as for such there will be twofold reward for what they did and they will reside in the high dwellings (Paradise) in peace and security.”(Saba 34: 37)

Good deeds are superior to one another in reward, so do commendable characters outweigh in reward and degree in accordance with their general usefulness to their owner and to mankind. Equally, evil deeds and deplorable characters increase their owners in punishment and torment according to their harm. Allaah says,

“And for all these there will be degrees according to that which they did, that He may recompense them in full for their deeds. And they will not be wronged.” (Al-Ahqaaf 46:19)

Truthfulness is a noble character that can only be possessed by people of sound hearts. Allaah enjoins it in His Book when He says,

“O you who believe, be afraid of Allaah and be with those who are true (in words and deeds)”(At-Tawbah 9: 19)

Truthfulness reveals man’s upbringing, pure mind and good nature while lying reveals man’s filthy mind and bad conduct. Truth saves while lying destroys. Truth is loveable intellectually and naturally.

 

“He who humbles himself for the sake of Allâh, Allâh will raise him.”

The next hadîth is narrated by Jâbir ibn ’Abdullâh:

The Messenger of Allâh sallallâhu ’alayhi wa sallam passed by the market place coming from the direction of ‘آliyah and people were around him. He passed by a dead kid goat (i.e. a baby goat) which had very short ears. He held it by its ears and said: “Who amongst you would like to have this for a dirham?” They (the Companions) said: We would not want it even for less than that! What can we do with it? He said: “Do you wish to have it (for any price)?” They said: By Allâh, even if it were alive it (we would not want it), as it has very short ears, let alone now when it is also dead! The Messenger of Allâh sallallâhu ’alayhi wa sallam said: “By Allâh, this world is more insignificant to Allâh than this (goat) is to you all.” Related by Muslim and Ahmad

Let us return to the hadîth. He passed by the market place “ and the people were around him.” Here I would like to pause a little in order to remind people about some of the guidance of the Prophet sallallâhu ’alayhi wa sallam that most of the Shaykhs of today have neglected.

The Shaykhs of today walk with their students behind them. This was not the way of the Messenger of Allâh sallallâhu ’alayhi wa sallam. The ahâdîth describing this are many and the following is from them:

“He used to walk side by side with Abû Bakr and side by side with Abû Hurayrah; and they all walked with each other.”

 

“Renew your hearts with the remembrance”

“There is nothing more beneficial to a Muslim’s heart than to mix with the righteous and to watch their actions, while nothing is more harmful to the heart than mixing with the sinners and watching their actions”

~ Attributed to Ahmad ibn Harb rahimahul-Lah

“The world is the believer’s prison. The best action in the prison is patience and control of one’s anger. The believer has no country in the world, His land will be there tomorrow in the Afterlife.”

~ Attributed to ‘Abdullah ibn Mubarak rahimahul-Lah

 

Compassion of the Prophet sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam

Source: Excerpted from Ash-Shifaa (by Al-Qadi Iyaad)
© Madinah Press 1991
Translated by Aisha Abdarrahman Bewley: http://islaam.com/Article.aspx?id=589

Part of his compassion towards his community was that he made things easy for them. He disliked doing certain things out of the fear that they would become obligatory for them. He said, “If I had not been compassionate to my community, I would have commanded them to use the siwak every time they did wudu’.” (Muslim and al-Bukhari.)

 

Self Auditing

Abu Darda radiyaAllahu ‘anhu is reported to have said

No one can achieve complete understanding of Islam until he condemns people for the sake of Allah and then returns home and condemns himself even more.

Quoted from http://www.sunnahonline.com/ilm/purification/0037.htm

waAllahu ta’aala a’alem.

 

I don’t know if I will continue to post to this wordpress.  If there are no more recent posts on this journal and you would like to read newer posts, visit:  must_keep_tryin.livejournal.com

 

“Every time the heart is distant from Allaah the harmful things are quick in approaching it”

Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullaah) said:

And among its effects is that the disobedient (sinner) is constantly in the shackles of his Shaytaan and the prison of his shahwa (desires) and the chains/fetters of his hawaa (whims). So he is a captive, one who is imprisoned and who is tied up.

There is no captive in a worse state than the one who is captivated by his worst enemy and there is no prison which is tighter than the prison of hawa and there is no bond/fetter more strong than the bond of desire.

How, then, will a heart which is captivated, imprisoned and fettered travel unto Allaah and the Home of the Hereafter. How will a person take a single step forward when the heart is bound and harmful things approach it from every direction. The harmful things approach it to the extent that it is tied up [i.e. imprisoned by its desires and whims..].

 

If sins had an odour

Muhammad ibn Waasi’ rahmat Allah ‘alayh used to say:

“If sins had an odor then nobody would be able to

sit with me.”

 From The Evil of Craving for Wealth and Status by Imaam ibn Rajab al-Hanbalee rahmat Allah ‘alayh, courtesy of http://www.fatwa-online.com/wordsofwisdom/sins/0010505_5.htm

 

And on that day…

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِِ

 In the Name of Allah, The All-Merciful, the Mercy-giving.

~*~

إِن كُلُّ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ إِلَّا آتِي الرَّحْمَنِ عَبْدًا لَقَدْ أَحْصَاهُمْ وَعَدَّهُمْ عَدًّا وَكُلُّهُمْ آتِيهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَرْدًا

There is none in the heavens and the earth but comes unto the Most Beneficent (Allah) as a slave.  Verily, He knows each one of them, and has counted them a full counting.  And everyone of them will come to Him alone on the Day of Resurrection (without any helper, or protector or defender).

~*~

Surat Maryam (Surah 19), ayahs 93-95