Friday Nasiha

Al-Baqara (The Cattle)
Chapter 2: Verse 165

Loving Allah
"Those who believe love Allah more than anything"

What Is Love?
Perhaps it cannot be defined in terms which adequately reflect its nature and importance in a person's life. It is not possible to define it by a formula as we define a scientific fact, nor can we define it by a mathematical equation. But still each one of us knows what love is and can tell, from his own experience, the powerful force that it is, once it comes to reside in the heart. It becomes the overpowering force in life. It captivates you, it grips you, it moves you and you are prepared to do anything for the sake of it. Once love is there, what you do is not something which has to be imposed upon you, because you need imposition only for the things you do not love.

Tasting True Faith
The ayah does not say that one must love only Allah. Love is a blessing given to us by Allah which is manifested in so many aspects of our life. In Islam, however, it must be foremost for Allah. Iman or faith is something which must penetrate deep in our hearts and generate love for Allah and His Prophet, more than anything else. Unless that happens inside you, you cannot even get the 'real taste' of iman.

To Love Is To Serve
But we must remember that this love for Allah and His Prophet is not of a kind to take us into the seclusion of a monastery. It is a love that which makes us do our duty to Allah while we are in the street, at home or in the office - everywhere we live as servants of Allah, willingly making every sacrifice required of us.

Source:
Islam: The Way of Revival, "Reviving the Individual" - By Khurram Murad, pp. 237, 238

Sneezing

Sneezing is considered in Islam a blessing from God. The manners concerning it are these:

1. A Muslim should not seek to restrain or prevent a sneeze; it is a healthy function. In any case, sneezing cannot be done at will, nor can it be easily suppressed,

2. When about to sneeze, a Muslim should turn his face away or cover his mouth and nose with hand or handkerchief, thus lessening the noise and, at the same time, avoiding nuisance to those nearby,

3. Since sneezing is considered a blessing from God, a Muslim should acknowledge this by saying: Al-Hamdu lillah (Praise and thanks to God),

4. When a Muslim sneezes and praises God, those who hear the praise should invoke a blessing on him by saying: Yarhamuka Allah (May God have mercy on you), to which the proper response is: Yahdikum Allah wa yuslih balakum (May Allah guide you and grant you well-being).

5. It is right to invoke a blessing on one who sneezes at the most three times. If he sneezes more often, this probably means he has a cold.

6. If a Muslim sneezes and does not praise God, invoking a blessing on him is not required.

7. If a Muslim sneezes and forgets to praise God, then it is the duty of Muslims near him to remind him kindly of his duty to thank God.

8. Blessings for a non-Muslim who sneezes should be expressed in the words: Yahdikum Allah (May God guide you on the Right Way.)

Source:
"Morals And Manners In Islam" - By Marwan Ibrahim Al-Kaysi, pp. 55-56

They outlined some new ideas that were more in line with what I wanted to hear about my religion. It was all very different from what we had learned in the maktabs, the religious instructions we had had at school, the lectures we had attended, or the articles we read in the journals of the day. I see it as a matter of the relationship between essence and form.

... It was Islam and two points of reference of oppositional nature - antifascism and anti-communism - that determined the focus of the Young Muslims' movement.

.. When the Young Muslims movement emerged ... the Muslim world was in a very bad way. There were only a few independent Muslim countries. We regarded this as an untenable situation, and saw Islam as a living idea that must bring itself up to date while preserving its essence.