"Surely, the true religion in Allah's sight is Islam" (3:19)
Development of personality is a duty upon all. It requires a great effort, lots of consciousness, much correction & gentle reminders. Are we people who live a life as we wish, always want things done our way, do as we please whether it is considered upright or not, courteous or not – or do we really try hard to accommodate others, respect them and speak to them politely no matter who they are, try to help others, maintain good relations
Read moreIn order to achieve contentment in life, the Messenger pbuh taught us to “Look at those who are less fortunate than yourselves”. The minute we compare our situation with those in a better position, we lose contentment and become ungrateful. This can also cause loss of even the little that we have. This applies in wealth, health, marriage, children and most other aspects of life. However, regarding spirituality and worship, in order to achieve progress , the Messenger pbuh taught
Read moreOne day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?” “It was great, Dad.” “Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked. “Oh yeah,”
Read moreIn a hadeeth reported by Imam Bukhari, Rasūl Allāh صلى الله عليه وسلم said: والله إنِّي لأَسْتَغْفِرُ الله وأَتُوبُ إِلَيْه في اليَوْمِ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّةً By Allah I seek forgiveness from Allah and repent to him more than seventy times in a day [Tirmidhi] A person cannot progress on the path of tazkiyah (spiritual purification) without sincere tawbah (repentance). Tawbah is to return to one’s original pure state. The Ulama (scholars) of tazkiyah say that a person should
Read more1. He was among the Tab-e-Taabieen having had the honour of meeting a large number of senior Tabieen. Hunger was his salient feature. His diet was mainly dried out bread immersed in water. He would say: “One who is contented with dry bread is never dependent on others.” Sometimes extreme hunger would drive him to the home of Hadhrat Hasan Basri who would become delighted to receive him. One of his sayings is: “Fortunate is the man who wakes up
Read moreA long time ago there lived a great saint. His name was Sharafud-Din and he loved his mother very much. Once, when Sharafud-Din was still small, his mother fell very ill and had to stay in bed. One night she awoke with a burning thirst and called out to her son to bring her a bowl of water. The young boy hurried to her bedside, but when he returned to her bedside with the water, he discovered that she had
Read moreThose who do not really want to apologize for the wrong they have done choose words that make it seem to be an apology yet it is not. “I am sorry for how you felt” is neither an admission of guilt nor an apology for what was done. It is more like saying, “What I did was correct but how you felt was wrong.” The same applies to those who “apologize for how you reacted”. Is it not foolish to
Read moreBeing considerate of someone sleeping by not disturbing them is actually a charitable deed. The Messenger pbuh used to walk in and greet those awake in such a voice that they could hear, but those asleep were not disturbed at all. Today our televisions, radios, CD players and other sound systems literally “blast” through the whole neighbourhood let alone disturbing poor family members or room mate…s! Do we phone at awkward times, knock the door so loudly, ring the bell
Read more1. Hadhrat Maalik Bin Dinaar (rahmatullah alayh) was a contemporary of Hadhrat Hasan Basri (rahmatullah alayh). Once he got into a ferry boat. When the boat was in the middle of the river, the pilot asked for the fee which Maalik Bin Dinaar was unable to tender. The pilot mercilessly beat him until he became unconscious. When he revived, the pilot threatened to throw him overboard if he failed to make payment. By the command of Allah Ta’ala a shoal
Read moreBy Maulana Hakeem Akhtar Shb Whatever grace we see of His on the heart, the heart becomes independent of all wealth. Our hearts are not in need of all the money of the rich due to the torrential downpour of mercy that we see Allah sending down on our hearts. Whoever makes friends with the elephant trainer has to enlargen his door because the former comes with his elephant. Thus Allah also makes the heart of the person very large
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