Friday Talks
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A year is over, a new year is starting.
Written by: Sk. Younis Ali.
Translated by: Dr. Faheem Bukhatwa.
In the name of Allah most Gracious most Merciful
Thanks be to Allah the Lord of the worlds. Peace and prayers be upon the most honourable of all messengers.
Days, months and years pass us by, and no one does any reminding, and no one takes a lesson or a warning any more. Here is another year of our lives has just gone from our ages. And another year of our ages is starting. And indeed, how fast a year will go by.
This who know Allah (praise be to Him), and who knew Allah through Allah's mercies, would say: Our state is not a state of those who are thankful for the mercies. Our state is not the state of those who if one single mercy is held back; we screamed and roared and cried. Our state is not of those who are thankful to the donor or conferrer; Allah; whose mercies cover us in our motion; and when we are still, and in our mornings and evenings, and in all our situations. Allah says: {and he has tracers following him, between his hands and behind him; protecting him; through the order of Allah.} Meaning by the command of Allah, the human being has protectors protecting him; in front of him and behind him. Blessed be God, the kind, the merciful the Almighty.
If people just knew their God through these mercies then their lives would change such a change that can easily be witnessed and sensed. If they also realize that He is so capable and powerful such that all other powers are so minor compared to Him; because He created all other powers. And if they realize that He can take revenge then they would all give up any and all that can put them as targets for His mighty revenge.
We have lessons and examples from those who lived in the past. We can see that anyone who wrongly oppressed and ruled by power and claimed greatness they did not escape the grip of Allah. Faro addressing his people said: {I know not of a God for you other than I}. and Allah says: {We took him and his soldiers and insignificantly discarded them in the sea. See what the end is like for those who transgress.} The end of this Aya is a warning to any one who may feel like transgressing. Transgression is not necessarily doing as Faro did, but it is encroaching or breaking the limits; regardless what those limits happen to be. This can be vanity, breaking all contacts with blood relatives, coming up with untrue statements and untrue claims, wrongful accusation of innocent people or women, taking money wrongfully, dealing in usury (or interest), monstrous acts and crimes which Allah forbids. All that; is transgression, violation and infringement of the limits of Allah; and forgetting Allah's power, capability and revenge.
Another example is Qaroon with the mercy of all the riches he was blessed with. But he said: {I got all this because of my knowledge that I possess}. Allah say: {We crushed and sunk him and his home into the ground. There was no group to support him other than Allah, and he was not victorious}
On the other hand, it is possible to see that the good ending is for those who respect and fear Allah, and those who do what they are commanded, and refrain from doing what they are prohibited to do. And they do acts that are recommended to be done, and not do acts that are recommended to avoid.
In His generosity; Allah says: {whoever comes with a good deed will be rewarded better}. And in His justice Allah says: {and whoever comes up with a bad deed, for those who do bad deeds will be punished for what they did}
Allah also says: {Everything is bound to vanish except His face}. Indicating that all creations will die. Only Allah will remain. So, fear should only be from Him, and hope should only be in Him. Do not ask other than Allah, and do not seek help except from Allha. Do not count for dependence except upon Him, and do not seek refuge except to Him, and beg no one except to Him, do not seek protection except from Him and do not cry to be rescued except to Him.
The second thing Allah wants from you is to purely and sincerely worship Him alone. He is your creator, He owns you. You need to know that He is the generous who will accept repentance from whoever repents to Him. The kind and merciful; who created all mercies and sent down only 1% of it to this worldly life for all creatures to share. He kept 99% of the mercies He created for all the enormity and terror of the day of resurrection. If you knew how merciful He is then that makes you patient with what ever harm gets thrown at you; knowing you are heading towards a generous God who will reward you for you patience. Knowing He is capable and powerful makes you fear and horrified from Him such that it helps you with being patient, and helps you against temptations of the soul and of Satan. God want you to grant Him the oneness and singleness, warship Him, obey Him, and if you offend; then how to repent and cleans out your sin. For each type of sin has its own way of salvation.
If this is materialized, then people would head towards doing what Allah commanded them, and limit them selves with what Allah prohibited them or deterred them against. In surat Al-Hadeed, Allah makes a gentle reproach to the believers when He says: {Is it not time for those who believe that their hearts to succumb and soften to remembering Allah and the truth which was sent down. And not to be like those who were given a book before; and it was left too long, such that their hearts hardened, and many of them are immoral and wrong doers}
In order to soften the heart remember death; remember the grave, and enormity of the day of resurrection. Remember reward and punishment. Hearts harden by loving this life, and blocking all thoughts of the life after. Those known as the "Will-Repent-later" group; those who keep putting off the repentance and the return to Allah with long hope of later times.
Thanks be to Allah.
Notes:
- The inhabitants of the city of Almadina that received and supported the messenger (PPBU) when he immigrated from Mekkah in the very early years of Islam.
Ansar (or Al-Ansar):
is a verse of the Koran. Aya (or Ayah):
mountain that represents the climax of the Hajj worship. All doing Hajj must stay at this location on the same day. Arafa (or Arafa or Arafat): is a
talking to Allah; praising him and asking him for help. Duaa: a prayer in the form of
Ferdose: is the highest level of the all the gardens of Eden or paradise. reported that the messenger said. It includes all the speeches and ceremonies he gave. It is usually narrated or told by one of his companions. There is a list of hadeeths approximately 14000 that are reported and checked to be genuine. No more hadeeths are acceptably added to this list. Hadeeth: is something
Hajj: is the worship of pilgrimage.
Hijra: the event of the immigration of the messenger from Mekkah to Madina. This event marks the start of the Islamic calendar. the Islamic calendar has 12 months based on the lunar cycle. Hijra is also used as a name for the Islamic dating system.
Iman: belief
Jihad: is striving in the line of Allah in many forms. Includes a very wide scope varying from improving oneself to fighting a defensive war in protection of Allah's word.
Khalifa: is the Muslim ruler. Head of the Islamic empire. Exact translation: "Successor". peninsula (known now as Saudi Arabia). A city where the messenger had to immigrate to. Madinah: A city in the Arabian
Mekka: is the holiest Mosque for Muslims. Some say it was first built by Adam, and some say Ibraham. It is where all Muslims face in their daily prayers.
Nafilah: a voluntary prayer other than the five obligatory prayers; performed by a believer. Ommah: is the Arabic word for a nation. It usually refers to the Islamic nation unless otherwise specified.
PPBU: Peace and Prayers Be Upon him. Qadr (night of Qadr): The night when the first revelation of the Koran took place. Most likely it happened during in the ten nights of the month of Ramadan.. Sunna: is the way the Messenger PPBU lived, did or said. It includes the way he dressed, ate, drank, prayed, interacted with other people and fought. Basically, sunnah is the life style of the messenger PPBU. It is considered the second source of legislation in Islamic laws and it is considered an important reference to be used for concluding arguments and disputes
Tawaf: part of the pilgrimage (Hajj) ritual. It involves walking round the Kaaba Mosque in anti-clock wise direction a number of seven circles.
Wathoo (wadoo): a washing up ritual done by Muslims before each of the five daily prayers.
Faheem Bukhatwa, my email address is :
faheemfb@gmail.com