Friday Nasiha

Living The Quran

Only Cause of Allah's Conern for us
Al-Furqan (The Criterion) Sura 25 : Verse 77

"Say (O Muhammad): My Lord only pays attention to you because of yoru dua to Him. But now you have indeed rejected (Him), so the (torment) will be yours permanently."

One of the authorities of the salaf (the early generation of the Muslims) said: "It has reached me that the meaning of this verse is: I have not created you because I have a need for you, I have only created you so that you may ask Me, so I will forgive you and give you what you ask." [Tafsir al-Qurtubi]

Al-Sadi writes: "Allah has informed us that He neither cares, nor concerns Himself except with these people (the believers), and that, were it not for your dua to Him - the dua of worship and the dua of asking - the He would not care about you nor love you."

So were it not for the fact that mankind makes dua to Allah, Allah would not care about creation. This fact, in and itself, is sufficient to make a person realise the importance of dua.

Compiled From:
"Dua: The Weapon of th Believer" - Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi, pp. 45, 46

Understanding The Prophet's Life

Cleansing the Hearts of Tarnish

Bayhaqi cited a hadith on the authority of Abd Allah ibn Umar, quoted directly from the Prophet, peace be upon him, where he says, 'Everything has its polish, and the polish of hearts is the remembrance of Almighty God. And there's nothing that better delivers from God's punishment than His remembrance.' And when they asked, 'Not even combat [jihad] for his sake?' he answered, 'Not even if someone smites with his sword until it breaks in two.'

Doubtless, a heart grows tarnished like brass or silver, and its polish is by remembrance, which may make it shine like a crystal mirror. So when one neglects the remembrance it tarnishes, and when he returns it shines. Since the heart is tarnished by two things - heedlessness and sin - it is polished by two things: remembrance and asking forgiveness.

Compiled From:
"The Invocation of God" - Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, pp. 46, 47

Blindspot!

Fraud (ghish) is concealing from people some fault, blemish, or harm, either of a religious or worldly nature. Others have said that fraud is making something useless or defective seem useful and beneficial, or making something bad appear to be good. One of the most widely transmitted hadith in the Islamic tradition is the Prophet's saying, "Whoever defrauds us is not one of us." Sacred Law forbids selling something without pointing out its defects. If the seller conceals defects or fails to disclose them intentionally, this is fraud, whether its victim is a Muslims or not.

The Sophists of ancient Greece loved and practically worshipped rhetoric. They were the first historical relativists, in that they held the theory that right and wrong do not exist in an objective and transcending sense. Whoever makes the most skilled and persuasive argument is right. The Sophists believed that the most important thing is to be convincing, whether one is telling the truth or lying, whether one is defending corruption or upholding justice. This is fraud of the tongue.

Rhetoric was also an art form in Islamic literacy and oratorical history. But to the Muslim, rhetoric was the art of embellishing the truth and presenting it persuasively.

Compiled From:
"Purification of the Heart" - Hamza Yusuf, p. 100