From: Islam4ever.com
METHODS FOR MORAL UPBRINGING:
1. Showing the values of good deeds and their effects on the individuals and society; also showing the effects of bad deeds, all within the child's capability of understanding.
2. Parents should be a good example in their behavior because children like to imitate their parents in their sayings and their deeds.
3. Teaching the child the religious principles and tutoring him in worship, taking into account the child's capability of understanding. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said: “Order your children to pray at the age of seven.”
4. Treating children nicely and kindly. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught us that practically. When he was praying as an Imam with the people, his grandson Al-Hasan, son of his daughter Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with them rode his back while he was bowing. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, lengthened his bow. When he finished his prayer, some attending Companions said, “You lengthened your bow?” Then the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, answered, “My grandson rode my back and I hate hastening him”
5. One of the important things that parents must teach their children is to choose the good company and to the avoid the bad one, because children are always influenced by the company they keep. The bad behavior can be easily transmitted through bad company. So the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, warned us by saying, “Man is inclined to get influenced by his friend's manners, so one must be careful in choosing friends.” (Reported by Abu Dawud & At-Tirmidhi)
6. Encouraging the child's sense of belonging to the Muslim Ummah, by teaching him of the brotherhood between Muslims, teaching him to care for Muslims in any land, and that he is part of the Muslim body, to feel joy when Muslims are joyous, to feel sad for Muslims' sadness, and to do best to achieve the Muslim Ummah’s goals. All of this can be done practically through:
a. Taking children to Mosques and introducing them to their brother in Islam regardless of race, language, or origin.
b. Teaching the children the history of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and his Companions and the history of Islam, bearing in mind the child's capability of understanding.
c. Encouraging children to sympathize with Muslim problems and to contribute to the solutions such as the poverty problem and to donate some money to the hungry Muslim children.
d. Taking part in the celebrations and festivals with Muslims, and sharing picnics and creating ties with their Muslim brothers of the same age.
7. Imbuing in children the feeling of love of Allah, His Prophet, Muslims, and all people. This love will lead to special behavior towards all those loved.
These are general guidelines to raise our children Islamically, so every Muslim must take care of his children and know the correct path that must be followed. This will help us do the job we are entrusted to do as Allah proscribed, as well as the responsibility the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, has clarified, with aim of protecting the future generations of Muslims, as Allah Almighty says: (And Say Do deeds! Allah will see your deeds, and (so will) his Messenger and the believers. And you will be brought back to the All-Knower of the unseen and the seen. Then He will inform you of what you used to do.) (At-Tawbah: 105)
Source: www.Islamonline. net
http://witness- pioneer.org/ VMagazine/ v9i2/v9i2. htm#6
Allah Almighty has entrusted parents with their children. Parents bear the responsibility to raise up their children in the Islamic way. If they do that they will be blessed in this life and in the Hereafter, and if they don't, they will get bad result during their life and in the Hereafter.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said: “All of you are guardians and all of you are responsible for things under your guardianship; the ruler is a guardian (managing his state’s affairs) and he is responsible for things under his care, the man is a guardian over his family and responsible for them, the woman is a guardian of her husband's house and she is responsible for it. All of you are guardians and responsible for things under your control.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not excuse any one from responsibility that Allah has put on every individual to build the Islamic society: the ruler is responsible: the man and woman are responsible. ... all within their capabilities, domains, and authorities. .. and the loss of Islam from our Muslim Ummah these days is nothing but a result of the neglect of responsibility.
Men and women, fathers and mothers share the responsibility to raise up, educate, and build the new generation in the correct method and the right way..
Man has in him the good and bad tendencies, so parents must encourage and grow the good tendencies in the child so he can become a useful person that helps himself and his people. Referring to this, Allah Almighty says: (O' you who believe, protect yourselves and your families from a fire whose fuel is men and stones. ) (At-Tahreem: 6)
The protection of yourself and your family from Hell-Fire won't be with anything but good education, the practice of good morals, and the guidance to nobility.
Islam does not distinguish between male and female with regard to the education requirements. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said: “Whoever has a daughter, tutors her on good morals, educates her well and feeds her properly; she will be a protection for him from Hell-Fire.”
What do we mean by good education? The good education means the physical, mental and moral preparation of the child so he can become a good individual in the good society.
Friday, 31 July 2009
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
China’s forgotten people
Aijaz Zaka Syed Arab News
http://www.arabnews .com/?page= 7§ion=0&article=124625&d=17&m=7&y=2009
Xinjiang does not exist. For nearly a century, China has done everything to help the world forget about the existence of its large and once vibrant Muslim region. Like Arthur Conan Doyle’s “Lost World”, it had been conveniently forgotten by the world, including China’s numerous Muslim neighbors as well as the rest of the Muslim world.
While China has tried to suppress the Islamic identity of Xinjiang and its proud Muslims before and during the communist rule, what amazes one most is the willful and shameful role most Muslim countries have played in this systematic marginalization and obliteration of the distinct Islamic character and identity of the Uighurs. They may not have nodded in collusion but by looking the other way, with the rest of the world, they helped in the most ruthless purge of a great people and culture. So much so for years few in the next-door Pakistan, Afghanistan and beyond knew what had been going on in the red paradise. As for the Middle East, the less said the better. The Arabs have been so busy tending to the ever bleeding Palestinians and fighting their own little turf wars that they have had little time or patience to think about the poor Uighurs.
Even the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which over the years dutifully passed those perfunctory resolutions, on Palestine to Chechnya and on Kosovo to Kashmir, did not ever cast a cursory glance beyond the Karakoram toward Xinjiang.
Which is perhaps why the magnitude and intensity of the uprising in Xinjiang this month have come as a huge surprise to the world, reminding it of the existence of China’s forgotten Muslims.
Clearly, you cannot suppress a people — however vulnerable and powerless — forever even if you have one of the world’s most powerful armies and states at your disposal. Ask Israel. Ask Uncle Sam, woefully stuck and spread thin from Iraq to Afghanistan to Pakistan. Why, the wise old Chinese could have even asked their equally big neighbors across the endless border. The Russians are still licking their wounds sustained in Afghanistan. If Beijing thought it could “integrate” Xinjiang by force into the so-called One China, just as it did in the case of Tibet, or just as the Russians have been trying with disastrous results in Chechnya, it has been proven wrong. And how!
The spectacular protests in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi this month go to prove that the brute force and tanks and endless indoctrination cannot crush a free-spirited people’s will to live life their own way. Freedom will find its way even in the remotest and most terrorized corners of the world. The massive government crackdown killing more than 140 people in Urumqi has been the biggest case of using state power against a civilian population since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. However, it got lukewarm response in the Western media that went delirious over the opposition protests in Iran last month, playing them over and over again. Interestingly, in both Iran and Xinjiang the protesters happened to be young Muslims demanding their rights and protesting injustice. Yet they received decidedly different treatment from the world media and global champions of democracy and human rights.
But this is not about the classic Western hypocrisy and dual standard. What interests me more is how with changing times authoritarian regimes everywhere as well as liberal democracies are finding it difficult to keep the long subjugated people under their thumb.
In the global village where time and space have lost their meaning and borders are increasingly shrinking assailed by the 24/7 satellite television and Internet, you cannot keep a people locked away against their will forever. Like life and nature, freedom finds a way — to express itself. And when it does so, nothing can stop it. Not even the most fearsome armies, or their awesome weapons.
IT’s all the more difficult to do so when those at the receiving end happen to be Muslims. Historically, Muslims have seldom given in to subjugation, wherever they are. Call them terrorists or what you will, but they just can’t come to terms with injustice and oppression and suffer in silence, whether it is in the sleepy Xinjiang or the cold climes of Chechnya.
Thanks to years of duplicitous colonial policies and America’s never-ending wars, localized sources of anger and conflict around the world are coalescing into a global movement of resistance. Like it or not, a new global Muslim consciousness is taking shape and this is not just confined to the Muslim heartlands but envelopes regions as diverse and dissimilar as Kosovo and Kashmir. Increasingly, Muslim resistance groups and movements are inspiring, influencing and responding to each other even as they defy all modern notions of borders and nation states.
China has accused both Al-Qaeda as well as the “CIA-backed separatist leaders” based in the US for the current crisis. But what could be really at work here are the influences of what is happening across the Muslim world, especially next door in Pakistan and Afghanistan. No matter what China might have persuaded the Uighurs all these years but they are not willing to part with their Islamic identity and still see themselves as a living part of the Muslim world.
More important, China’s Muslims have suffered long enough and obviously cannot take it any longer. With Han Chinese systemically taking over their lands, homes and jobs, the Uighurs are facing an existential crisis that is not very different from what has happened in Palestine. Turkey’s Recep Erdogan was not far off the mark when he accused Beijing of “genocide” in Xinjiang.
As the center and destination of the global trade along the fabled Silk Route, Xinjiang had once been one of the richest and most culturally vibrant civilizations in the world. This is the land that attracted hordes of traders from the Middle East, Africa and Europe for thousands of years including the legendary travelers such as Marco Polo and Ibn Batuta. The region with its ancient cities like Kashgar had once been part of the Caliphate.
No wonder Kashgar was a constant point of reference for the South Asian bard Iqbal as he talked of the Muslim glory from the River Nile to the edges of Kashgar (Neel ke sahil se lekar ta ba khake Kashgar...). It’s a real shame therefore what a mess successive rulers of China have made of this ancient center of civilization and culture and its proud people. It’s all the more unfortunate considering China historically has had excellent relations with Islam, right from the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Some of ancient China’s top generals and statesmen have been Muslims (one such hero is celebrated by Dubai’s Ibn Batuta Mall reliving a little known piece of history). Even today, a whopping majority in the Arab and Muslim world sees the Asian giant as a friend and a healthy counterweight to the West’s tyranny.
After 9/11, the Arabs have increasingly reached out to China investing heavily in its exploding industries and markets. China’s direct trade with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and other Arab states has multiplied incredibly fast over the past couple of years. All this could change if China does not change its ways of treating its Muslims. And if festering wounds in Xinjiang are not treated soon, Beijing could have a problem on its hands that would make the Tiananmen Square carnage look like picnic.
For any personal reply, please reply me bejust.peace@ yahoo.com
Join me @facebook!
Thanks a lot for your time.
http://www.arabnews .com/?page= 7§ion=0&article=124625&d=17&m=7&y=2009
Xinjiang does not exist. For nearly a century, China has done everything to help the world forget about the existence of its large and once vibrant Muslim region. Like Arthur Conan Doyle’s “Lost World”, it had been conveniently forgotten by the world, including China’s numerous Muslim neighbors as well as the rest of the Muslim world.
While China has tried to suppress the Islamic identity of Xinjiang and its proud Muslims before and during the communist rule, what amazes one most is the willful and shameful role most Muslim countries have played in this systematic marginalization and obliteration of the distinct Islamic character and identity of the Uighurs. They may not have nodded in collusion but by looking the other way, with the rest of the world, they helped in the most ruthless purge of a great people and culture. So much so for years few in the next-door Pakistan, Afghanistan and beyond knew what had been going on in the red paradise. As for the Middle East, the less said the better. The Arabs have been so busy tending to the ever bleeding Palestinians and fighting their own little turf wars that they have had little time or patience to think about the poor Uighurs.
Even the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which over the years dutifully passed those perfunctory resolutions, on Palestine to Chechnya and on Kosovo to Kashmir, did not ever cast a cursory glance beyond the Karakoram toward Xinjiang.
Which is perhaps why the magnitude and intensity of the uprising in Xinjiang this month have come as a huge surprise to the world, reminding it of the existence of China’s forgotten Muslims.
Clearly, you cannot suppress a people — however vulnerable and powerless — forever even if you have one of the world’s most powerful armies and states at your disposal. Ask Israel. Ask Uncle Sam, woefully stuck and spread thin from Iraq to Afghanistan to Pakistan. Why, the wise old Chinese could have even asked their equally big neighbors across the endless border. The Russians are still licking their wounds sustained in Afghanistan. If Beijing thought it could “integrate” Xinjiang by force into the so-called One China, just as it did in the case of Tibet, or just as the Russians have been trying with disastrous results in Chechnya, it has been proven wrong. And how!
The spectacular protests in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi this month go to prove that the brute force and tanks and endless indoctrination cannot crush a free-spirited people’s will to live life their own way. Freedom will find its way even in the remotest and most terrorized corners of the world. The massive government crackdown killing more than 140 people in Urumqi has been the biggest case of using state power against a civilian population since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. However, it got lukewarm response in the Western media that went delirious over the opposition protests in Iran last month, playing them over and over again. Interestingly, in both Iran and Xinjiang the protesters happened to be young Muslims demanding their rights and protesting injustice. Yet they received decidedly different treatment from the world media and global champions of democracy and human rights.
But this is not about the classic Western hypocrisy and dual standard. What interests me more is how with changing times authoritarian regimes everywhere as well as liberal democracies are finding it difficult to keep the long subjugated people under their thumb.
In the global village where time and space have lost their meaning and borders are increasingly shrinking assailed by the 24/7 satellite television and Internet, you cannot keep a people locked away against their will forever. Like life and nature, freedom finds a way — to express itself. And when it does so, nothing can stop it. Not even the most fearsome armies, or their awesome weapons.
IT’s all the more difficult to do so when those at the receiving end happen to be Muslims. Historically, Muslims have seldom given in to subjugation, wherever they are. Call them terrorists or what you will, but they just can’t come to terms with injustice and oppression and suffer in silence, whether it is in the sleepy Xinjiang or the cold climes of Chechnya.
Thanks to years of duplicitous colonial policies and America’s never-ending wars, localized sources of anger and conflict around the world are coalescing into a global movement of resistance. Like it or not, a new global Muslim consciousness is taking shape and this is not just confined to the Muslim heartlands but envelopes regions as diverse and dissimilar as Kosovo and Kashmir. Increasingly, Muslim resistance groups and movements are inspiring, influencing and responding to each other even as they defy all modern notions of borders and nation states.
China has accused both Al-Qaeda as well as the “CIA-backed separatist leaders” based in the US for the current crisis. But what could be really at work here are the influences of what is happening across the Muslim world, especially next door in Pakistan and Afghanistan. No matter what China might have persuaded the Uighurs all these years but they are not willing to part with their Islamic identity and still see themselves as a living part of the Muslim world.
More important, China’s Muslims have suffered long enough and obviously cannot take it any longer. With Han Chinese systemically taking over their lands, homes and jobs, the Uighurs are facing an existential crisis that is not very different from what has happened in Palestine. Turkey’s Recep Erdogan was not far off the mark when he accused Beijing of “genocide” in Xinjiang.
As the center and destination of the global trade along the fabled Silk Route, Xinjiang had once been one of the richest and most culturally vibrant civilizations in the world. This is the land that attracted hordes of traders from the Middle East, Africa and Europe for thousands of years including the legendary travelers such as Marco Polo and Ibn Batuta. The region with its ancient cities like Kashgar had once been part of the Caliphate.
No wonder Kashgar was a constant point of reference for the South Asian bard Iqbal as he talked of the Muslim glory from the River Nile to the edges of Kashgar (Neel ke sahil se lekar ta ba khake Kashgar...). It’s a real shame therefore what a mess successive rulers of China have made of this ancient center of civilization and culture and its proud people. It’s all the more unfortunate considering China historically has had excellent relations with Islam, right from the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Some of ancient China’s top generals and statesmen have been Muslims (one such hero is celebrated by Dubai’s Ibn Batuta Mall reliving a little known piece of history). Even today, a whopping majority in the Arab and Muslim world sees the Asian giant as a friend and a healthy counterweight to the West’s tyranny.
After 9/11, the Arabs have increasingly reached out to China investing heavily in its exploding industries and markets. China’s direct trade with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and other Arab states has multiplied incredibly fast over the past couple of years. All this could change if China does not change its ways of treating its Muslims. And if festering wounds in Xinjiang are not treated soon, Beijing could have a problem on its hands that would make the Tiananmen Square carnage look like picnic.
For any personal reply, please reply me bejust.peace@ yahoo.com
Join me @facebook!
Thanks a lot for your time.
Monday, 27 July 2009
Think positively of Allah.
Bismillah hir rahmaan nir raheem
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatuallahi wa barakatuhu
Think positively of Allah.
The Prophet [salla lahu alaihi wa sallam]said: “Allaah, may He be exalted, says: ‘I am as My slave thinks I am.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 7405; Muslim, 4675.
“Invoke your Lord with humility and in secret. He likes not the aggressors”
[al-A’raaf 7:55]
Surah Isra 17 verse 80 Say: "O my Lord! let my entry be by the Gate of Truth and Honor and likewise my exit by the Gate of Truth and Honor; and grant me from Thy Presence an authority to aid (me)."
Ameen.
Transliteration :Wa qur rabbi adkhilni mudkhala sidqiw wa akhrijni mukhraja sidqiw wa-j'al li mil ladunka sulta_nan nasira_(n).
Al-Tirmidhi HadithHadith 2482 Narrated by AbuHurayrah (May Allah be pleased with him)
Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) used to say, " O Allah, grant me benefit in what Thou hast taught me, teach me what will benefit me, and increase my knowledge. Praise be to Allah in all circumstances. I seek refuge in Allah from the state of those who go to Hell."
Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it, Tirmidhi saying this is a tradition whose isnad is gharib.
Transliteration:an Abi Hurairah (radiya Allahu anhu) qaal:
qaala Rasul Allah (salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam): "Allahumma infa'ni bima 'allamtani, wa allimni maa yanfa'oni wa zidni 'ilman, alhamdulillahi alaa kolli haal, wa a'odtho billahi min haali ahlil naar."
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatuallahi wa barakatuhu
Think positively of Allah.
The Prophet [salla lahu alaihi wa sallam]said: “Allaah, may He be exalted, says: ‘I am as My slave thinks I am.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 7405; Muslim, 4675.
“Invoke your Lord with humility and in secret. He likes not the aggressors”
[al-A’raaf 7:55]
Surah Isra 17 verse 80 Say: "O my Lord! let my entry be by the Gate of Truth and Honor and likewise my exit by the Gate of Truth and Honor; and grant me from Thy Presence an authority to aid (me)."
Ameen.
Transliteration :Wa qur rabbi adkhilni mudkhala sidqiw wa akhrijni mukhraja sidqiw wa-j'al li mil ladunka sulta_nan nasira_(n).
Al-Tirmidhi HadithHadith 2482 Narrated by AbuHurayrah (May Allah be pleased with him)
Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) used to say, " O Allah, grant me benefit in what Thou hast taught me, teach me what will benefit me, and increase my knowledge. Praise be to Allah in all circumstances. I seek refuge in Allah from the state of those who go to Hell."
Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it, Tirmidhi saying this is a tradition whose isnad is gharib.
Transliteration:an Abi Hurairah (radiya Allahu anhu) qaal:
qaala Rasul Allah (salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam): "Allahumma infa'ni bima 'allamtani, wa allimni maa yanfa'oni wa zidni 'ilman, alhamdulillahi alaa kolli haal, wa a'odtho billahi min haali ahlil naar."
Sunday, 26 July 2009
insinuating thoughts from Shaytaan
In the name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the All-Compassionate
"May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon You"
from - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoveIslam_LiveIslam/
Praise be to Allaah, we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allaah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allaah guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allaah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allaah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.
Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah
As-Salaam Alaikum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakatuhu
PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
Book by Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
Waswaas
(insinuating thoughts from Shaytaan)
A person may ask: “I am suffering from many insinuating thoughts (waswaas) about the nature of Allaah, may He be glorified. There are thoughts going around in my mind that I cannot utter because they are not befitting to Allaah, and they keep coming back to me, when I am praying and at other times. It is so bad that I doubt my faith, and wonder if I am even a Muslim or not. What is the cure for this problem?”
A number of ahaadeeth have been reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) which contain the answer to this problem, al-hamdu Lillah.
The Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“The Shaytaan may come to any one of you and say, -Who created Allaah?
If any one of you experiences this, let him say- Aamantu billaahi wa rasoolih (I believe in Allaah and His Messenger),
and that will drive him away.”
(Saheeh al-Jaami, 1657).
The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The Shaytaan may come to any one of you and ask, Who created the heaven? and he will say, Allaah.
The Shaytaan will say, Who created the earth? and he will say, Allaah. Then the Shaytaan will say, Who created Allaah?
If any one of you experiences this, let him say, Aamantu billaahi wa rasoolih.’” (Saheeh al-Jaami, 1656).
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever experiences anything of this waswaas, let him say three times, ‘‘Aamantu billaahi wa rasoolih, and that will drive (the Shaytaan) away.” (Saheeh al-Jaami, 6587).
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The people will nearly ask too many questions, so that one of them may say, Allaah created all of creation, but who created Allaah?
If they say this, then say: ‘Allaah is the One, Allaah is the Self-Sufficient Master. He begets not, nor was He begotten; and there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him [al-Ikhlaas 112:1-4, interpretation of the meaning],
and spit (dry) to your left three times, and seek refuge with Allaah from the Shaytaan.” (Saheeh al-Jaami, 8182).
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Think about the signs of Allaah, do not think about Allaah Himself).” (Saheeh al-Jaami, 2975)
From these texts we may summarize the following six ways of overcoming these insinuating thoughts:
The person who is experiencing such ideas should say, “Aamantu billaahi wa rasoolih (I believe in Allaah and His Messenger).”
He should seek refuge with Allaah from the accursed Shaytaan, and say three times, “Aoodhu billaahil-Samee il-Aleem min al-Shaytaan il-rajeem, min hamzihi wa nafkhihi wa nafathih
(I seek refuge with Allaah, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, from the accursed Shaytaan, and from his slander and evil insinuations).”
He should spit (drily) to his left three times.
He should stop thinking about whatever it is that is on his mind, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Let him stop.”
This is an important tactic, because continuing to allow the Shaytaan to influence one in this way can only make it worse. The Muslim must stop these thoughts, as much as he is able, and keep his mind busy with something useful and beneficial.
He should recite Soorat al-Ikhlaas (Qul huwa Allaahu ahad), because it describes attributes of the Most Merciful and is considered to be equivalent to one-third of the Quraan. Reciting this great soorah will guarantee an end to these insinuating thoughts.
He should think about the creation and blessings of Allaah, not about His nature, because his weak human mind can never comprehend the nature of Allaah.
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “… and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge” [Ta-Ha 20:110]
"May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon You"
from - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoveIslam_LiveIslam/
Praise be to Allaah, we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allaah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allaah guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allaah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allaah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.
Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah
As-Salaam Alaikum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakatuhu
PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
Book by Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
Waswaas
(insinuating thoughts from Shaytaan)
A person may ask: “I am suffering from many insinuating thoughts (waswaas) about the nature of Allaah, may He be glorified. There are thoughts going around in my mind that I cannot utter because they are not befitting to Allaah, and they keep coming back to me, when I am praying and at other times. It is so bad that I doubt my faith, and wonder if I am even a Muslim or not. What is the cure for this problem?”
A number of ahaadeeth have been reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) which contain the answer to this problem, al-hamdu Lillah.
The Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“The Shaytaan may come to any one of you and say, -Who created Allaah?
If any one of you experiences this, let him say- Aamantu billaahi wa rasoolih (I believe in Allaah and His Messenger),
and that will drive him away.”
(Saheeh al-Jaami, 1657).
The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The Shaytaan may come to any one of you and ask, Who created the heaven? and he will say, Allaah.
The Shaytaan will say, Who created the earth? and he will say, Allaah. Then the Shaytaan will say, Who created Allaah?
If any one of you experiences this, let him say, Aamantu billaahi wa rasoolih.’” (Saheeh al-Jaami, 1656).
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever experiences anything of this waswaas, let him say three times, ‘‘Aamantu billaahi wa rasoolih, and that will drive (the Shaytaan) away.” (Saheeh al-Jaami, 6587).
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The people will nearly ask too many questions, so that one of them may say, Allaah created all of creation, but who created Allaah?
If they say this, then say: ‘Allaah is the One, Allaah is the Self-Sufficient Master. He begets not, nor was He begotten; and there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him [al-Ikhlaas 112:1-4, interpretation of the meaning],
and spit (dry) to your left three times, and seek refuge with Allaah from the Shaytaan.” (Saheeh al-Jaami, 8182).
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Think about the signs of Allaah, do not think about Allaah Himself).” (Saheeh al-Jaami, 2975)
From these texts we may summarize the following six ways of overcoming these insinuating thoughts:
The person who is experiencing such ideas should say, “Aamantu billaahi wa rasoolih (I believe in Allaah and His Messenger).”
He should seek refuge with Allaah from the accursed Shaytaan, and say three times, “Aoodhu billaahil-Samee il-Aleem min al-Shaytaan il-rajeem, min hamzihi wa nafkhihi wa nafathih
(I seek refuge with Allaah, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, from the accursed Shaytaan, and from his slander and evil insinuations).”
He should spit (drily) to his left three times.
He should stop thinking about whatever it is that is on his mind, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Let him stop.”
This is an important tactic, because continuing to allow the Shaytaan to influence one in this way can only make it worse. The Muslim must stop these thoughts, as much as he is able, and keep his mind busy with something useful and beneficial.
He should recite Soorat al-Ikhlaas (Qul huwa Allaahu ahad), because it describes attributes of the Most Merciful and is considered to be equivalent to one-third of the Quraan. Reciting this great soorah will guarantee an end to these insinuating thoughts.
He should think about the creation and blessings of Allaah, not about His nature, because his weak human mind can never comprehend the nature of Allaah.
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “… and they will never compass anything of His Knowledge” [Ta-Ha 20:110]
Necessary Tips for Raising Children Following Islam
Allah Almighty has entrusted parents with their children. Parents bear the responsibility to raise up their children in the Islamic way. If they do that they will be blessed in this life and in the Hereafter, and if they don't, they will get bad result during their life and in the Hereafter.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said: “All of you are guardians and all of you are responsible for things under your guardianship; the ruler is a guardian (managing his state’s affairs) and he is responsible for things under his care, the man is a guardian over his family and responsible for them, the woman is a guardian of her husband's house and she is responsible for it. All of you are guardians and responsible for things under your control.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not excuse any one from responsibility that Allah has put on every individual to build the Islamic society: the ruler is responsible: the man and woman are responsible.... all within their capabilities, domains, and authorities... and the loss of Islam from our Muslim Ummah these days is nothing but a result of the neglect of responsibility.
Men and women, fathers and mothers share the responsibility to raise up, educate, and build the new generation in the correct method and the right way.
Man has in him the good and bad tendencies, so parents must encourage and grow the good tendencies in the child so he can become a useful person that helps himself and his people. Referring to this, Allah Almighty says: (O' you who believe, protect yourselves and your families from a fire whose fuel is men and stones. ) (At-Tahreem: 6)
The protection of yourself and your family from Hell-Fire won't be with anything but good education, the practice of good morals, and the guidance to nobility.
Islam does not distinguish between male and female with regard to the education requirements. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said: “Whoever has a daughter, tutors her on good morals, educates her well and feeds her properly; she will be a protection for him from Hell-Fire.”
What do we mean by good education? The good education means the physical, mental and moral preparation of the child so he can become a good individual in the good society.
METHODS FOR MORAL UPBRINGING:
1. Showing the values of good deeds and their effects on the individuals and society; also showing the effects of bad deeds, all within the child's capability of understanding.
2. Parents should be a good example in their behavior because children like to imitate their parents in their sayings and their deeds.
3. Teaching the child the religious principles and tutoring him in worship, taking into account the child's capability of understanding. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said: “Order your children to pray at the age of seven.”
4. Treating children nicely and kindly. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught us that practically. When he was praying as an Imam with the people, his grandson Al-Hasan, son of his daughter Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with them rode his back while he was bowing. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, lengthened his bow. When he finished his prayer, some attending Companions said, “You lengthened your bow?” Then the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, answered, “My grandson rode my back and I hate hastening him”
5. One of the important things that parents must teach their children is to choose the good company and to the avoid the bad one, because children are always influenced by the company they keep. The bad behavior can be easily transmitted through bad company. So the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, warned us by saying, “Man is inclined to get influenced by his friend's manners, so one must be careful in choosing friends.” (Reported by Abu Dawud & At-Tirmidhi)
6. Encouraging the child's sense of belonging to the Muslim Ummah, by teaching him of the brotherhood between Muslims, teaching him to care for Muslims in any land, and that he is part of the Muslim body, to feel joy when Muslims are joyous, to feel sad for Muslims' sadness, and to do best to achieve the Muslim Ummah’s goals. All of this can be done practically through:
a. Taking children to Mosques and introducing them to their brother in Islam regardless of race, language, or origin.
b. Teaching the children the history of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and his Companions and the history of Islam, bearing in mind the child's capability of understanding.
c. Encouraging children to sympathize with Muslim problems and to contribute to the solutions such as the poverty problem and to donate some money to the hungry Muslim children.
d. Taking part in the celebrations and festivals with Muslims, and sharing picnics and creating ties with their Muslim brothers of the same age.
7. Imbuing in children the feeling of love of Allah, His Prophet, Muslims, and all people. This love will lead to special behavior towards all those loved.
These are general guidelines to raise our children Islamically, so every Muslim must take care of his children and know the correct path that must be followed. This will help us do the job we are entrusted to do as Allah proscribed, as well as the responsibility the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, has clarified, with aim of protecting the future generations of Muslims, as Allah Almighty says: (And Say Do deeds! Allah will see your deeds, and (so will) his Messenger and the believers. And you will be brought back to the All-Knower of the unseen and the seen. Then He will inform you of what you used to do.) (At-Tawbah: 105)
Source: www.Islamonline.net
http://witness-pioneer.org/VMagazine/v9i2/v9i2.htm#6
The Plight of Womenfolk in Muslim Society
Problems confronting the Muslim World II:
http://witness-pioneer.org/VMagazine/The_Pioneer/v1i1/05.The_Plight_of_Womenfolk_in_Muslim_Society.html
(The author Dr. Said Ramadan appears to be a keen observer of the then prevailing situation of the Muslim world. Respected readers may kindly remember that Dr. Said Ramadan expressed his view about the plight of Muslim Ummah about three decades ago. In the present time also his reflection on the Muslim Ummah in general and women-folk in particular has not lost its appeal. We feel happy to produce it before the readers for their kind perusal-Editor)
The second problem is that of the position of the womenfolk in Muslim society. In this regard also, as in regard to our social life as a whole, we are in a state of complete chaos, hotchpotch of competing forces; the remaining Islamic influence, our inherited traditions and extraneous influences which have crept into our life as a result of the enveloping wave of blind imitation of the West. This has created a myriad of problems in Muslim society, among which deserving of special attention is the problem of womenfolk. This is not so merely because women constitute something more than half the community. It is particularly pressing because it is a problem, which affects the family, the very basis of our social life, and because of the deep and inherent relationship that it has with those factors, which make for the cohesion of our society. It is in fact a problem that affects in its ramification most of aspects of our national orientation.
It is strange that we Muslims should neglect the important position of women. The Shariah has placed such emphasis on it in connection with the lives of those great men whom God entrusted with high tasks and whom He chose as the recipients of His revelation-those noble souls ordained to deliver God's message to mankind. In the story of Moses it is his mother, Pharaoh's wife and the daughter of Madyan who constitute great figures. In the story of Jesus, his virtuous mother is a great pillar of the story. The principal nobility and virtue among those who stood faithfully by the side of Muhammad (SAWS) in his apostolic mission was Khadijah, the compassionate and noble lady of Mecca. Indeed, the numerous verses of the Qur'an and the large number of prophetic traditions which speak of woman's status and of her rights and responsibilities, are quite sufficient to determine our attitude towards womanhood. The Holy Qur'an refers to their position while comparing it with the position of men in the sight of God and proclaims it to be one of complete equality:
"I shall not let the work of worker, male or female, be lost. You issue from one another." (11: 195).
On other occasion it mentions the rights and duties of women as akin to those of men before mentioning man's administrative leadership of the family.
"And they (women) have rights similar to those (of men), according to what is equitable, and men are a degree above them." (11:228).
On still another occasion we find Islam pointedly stressing gentleness and good behavior in the treatment of women. Said the Prophet in his last address:
"I advise you to be good to women."
It is not my intention to discuss the position of womenfolk in all its ramifications. What I have to say will be quite brief, but nevertheless of serious importance, for the time has come when we should be very clear as a number of questions relating to this problem and attention to the solution thereof. It should be very clear in our minds that woman, according to Islam, is intrinsically like her male partner. She is a human being endowed with the same essence of nobility, which is shared by the whole human species. As far as human quality is concerned, men and women are absolutely alike:
"O mankind! Revere your Lord, Who created you from a soul and from that created its mate, Who thereof brought forth multitude of men and women." (4:1).
Moreover, each one, man and woman, will be held responsible for his own individual self:
"….and every one of them will come to God, on the day of Resurrection, alone." (19:95).
This means that those who either believe, or whose behavior reveals the unconscious concept that woman is an inferior being who has to be subjugated, that she is merely an instrument for the self-indulgence of man-such people require a radical reorientation of their attitude towards womankind. Such people, by clinging to such unhealthy ideas, or through such unhealthy conduct, are grossly distorting God-given human nature and killing potentialities of thought, feeling and vitality in their partners of life.
It should also be clear that the unbridled self-will of certain women in other societies, or of those of our own who blindly imitate them, should not be countered by extremism on our part: by imposing on women what God has not imposed upon them, or by forbidding them what God has not forbidden. We should remember that women in the western world began to lean in the wrong direction from definite causes, at least some of which were undoubtedly related to social injustices, under the dead weight of which, women had languished for so long, imprisoned and ignorant, with no will or personality of their own. They revolted against this injustice-and this revolt was a completely natural and genuine one. Then they began to lean in the wrong direction, becoming stubborn and headstrong. The same type injustice continues to have its strong-holds in our own society, where there are still people, though very few, who are proud of the fact that since the wedding night when their wives were driven home, they have not seen the street once. There are still other who consider themselves entitled to beat their wives if they dare to disagree with their views and advance an opinion of their own. Again, there are those who spend year after year with their wives and daughters without sitting down to discuss a problem with them or attempting to make them share their views.
Who would claim that any of these has anything to do with Islam? On the contrary, it is Islam that elevated women to heights of prestige, which have neither precedent nor parallel in human history. At a time when womanhood in the West was held in such a state of impurity that even a woman's was an evil pollution of the Bible, Qur'anic manuscripts were held in the trust of the Lady Hafsa at Medina. At a time when Romans held conference to debate whether woman was a "person" or a "thing", Muhammad (SAWS) stood up to declare that "women are but the sisters of men" and to shatter the pre-Islamic era of darkness and injustice, so that a woman could argue with the Holy Prophet in the courtyard of the mosque and say, "I have been deputed to you on behalf of woman!" Indeed, it was Islam which, for the first time, established the status of women full-fledged members of human society and granted them the right to owe whatever they earned since the Qur’an proclaimed:
"Unto men of fortune from that which they have earned, and unto women of fortune from that which they have earned." (4:32).
Whatever standards of decency Islam has laid down in matters of dress and behavior between man and woman, they are all with the sole intention of ensuring the sanctity of the home and the inviolability of marital intimacy. Not one of these standards could ever imply an attitude directed towards humiliation of woman as regards her social status or her role in her relationship with man. When a newly married girl complained to the Prophet that her father had chosen her husband without consulting her, he immediately gave her permission to annul her marriage, to which she replied: "I have no personal objection to my husband and I accept him, but I wanted it to be known that a father has no right to impose a husband upon his daughter without her consent." In contrast to the then prevailing ignorance and plutocracy of tribal traditions, Muhammad (SAWS) enjoined the quest of knowledge as an integral part of faith, for men and women alike. He praised highly the women of Ansar with:
"Blessed be those whose modesty never prevented them from seeking knowledge."
Far from being rough or rude, Muhammad's (SAWS) consciousness of women's tenderness and delicacy was so intense that even in the impelling harshness of the desert, he gently appealed to Anjashah, the caravan driver:
"O Anjashah, slow down a little, for thy camels are carrying glasses!"
This is only a glimpse of Islam: thus, how could we possibly be justified in so grossly distorting it by all sorts of misconceived traditions and beliefs? What could be more unjust, whether to Islam or to ourselves, than to misrepresent as we do, or rather to deform the beautiful features of Islam? And consider when?-at a time when we are encountering the movement of so-called progress and emancipation, which is advancing like a storm and wreaking havoc in our lives.
It is imperative to realize that the really weak points in our society are those that provide genuine cause for feminine revolt, which can subsequently take an extremist turn and ultimately lead to unbridled feminine self-will. If we are serious about resisting this unhealthy trends, it is our duty to call a stop where God has done so, and combat the deceptive, misleading elements we are encountering by adhering to what God has laid down for us. We should neither depart from anything which God has decreed out of weakness or compromise, nor add anything to it from extremism and severity.
These things are relevance for all Muslims. But they are of particular importance to those who are actively devoted to the revival of Islam. I fervently wish that such people would put these ideas into effect; would stop at the point where the Shariah stops, and have the courage to proclaim and insist on what God has made binding on us, and that alone. This is essential in creating a strong wall around whatever of virtue and purity remains in our society. It is to be hoped that by so doing the workers for the cause of Islam will have created a real barrier, one strengthened by the word of God and His Prophet, against the sweeping, devastating storm which threatens Islam today. For, if matters are not clarified, and confusion is allowed to reign as it does today, if the good aspects are not separated from the bad, both in theory and by good example, the result of this confusion is bound to be this: the good elements will be mistaken for bad, and both will be swept away by the rising storm. This will not be in the least surprising. For there is neither a divine code which is being sincerely adhered to, nor is there any social system based on experience and clarity of outlook, and God has not appointed a gendarme to regulate the conflicting traffic of good and evil.
by Dr. Said Ramadan
Director, Islamic Centre, Geneva
Courtesy: Young Pakistan, September 24, 1968
http://witness-pioneer.org/VMagazine/The_Pioneer/v1i1/05.The_Plight_of_Womenfolk_in_Muslim_Society.html
(The author Dr. Said Ramadan appears to be a keen observer of the then prevailing situation of the Muslim world. Respected readers may kindly remember that Dr. Said Ramadan expressed his view about the plight of Muslim Ummah about three decades ago. In the present time also his reflection on the Muslim Ummah in general and women-folk in particular has not lost its appeal. We feel happy to produce it before the readers for their kind perusal-Editor)
The second problem is that of the position of the womenfolk in Muslim society. In this regard also, as in regard to our social life as a whole, we are in a state of complete chaos, hotchpotch of competing forces; the remaining Islamic influence, our inherited traditions and extraneous influences which have crept into our life as a result of the enveloping wave of blind imitation of the West. This has created a myriad of problems in Muslim society, among which deserving of special attention is the problem of womenfolk. This is not so merely because women constitute something more than half the community. It is particularly pressing because it is a problem, which affects the family, the very basis of our social life, and because of the deep and inherent relationship that it has with those factors, which make for the cohesion of our society. It is in fact a problem that affects in its ramification most of aspects of our national orientation.
It is strange that we Muslims should neglect the important position of women. The Shariah has placed such emphasis on it in connection with the lives of those great men whom God entrusted with high tasks and whom He chose as the recipients of His revelation-those noble souls ordained to deliver God's message to mankind. In the story of Moses it is his mother, Pharaoh's wife and the daughter of Madyan who constitute great figures. In the story of Jesus, his virtuous mother is a great pillar of the story. The principal nobility and virtue among those who stood faithfully by the side of Muhammad (SAWS) in his apostolic mission was Khadijah, the compassionate and noble lady of Mecca. Indeed, the numerous verses of the Qur'an and the large number of prophetic traditions which speak of woman's status and of her rights and responsibilities, are quite sufficient to determine our attitude towards womanhood. The Holy Qur'an refers to their position while comparing it with the position of men in the sight of God and proclaims it to be one of complete equality:
"I shall not let the work of worker, male or female, be lost. You issue from one another." (11: 195).
On other occasion it mentions the rights and duties of women as akin to those of men before mentioning man's administrative leadership of the family.
"And they (women) have rights similar to those (of men), according to what is equitable, and men are a degree above them." (11:228).
On still another occasion we find Islam pointedly stressing gentleness and good behavior in the treatment of women. Said the Prophet in his last address:
"I advise you to be good to women."
It is not my intention to discuss the position of womenfolk in all its ramifications. What I have to say will be quite brief, but nevertheless of serious importance, for the time has come when we should be very clear as a number of questions relating to this problem and attention to the solution thereof. It should be very clear in our minds that woman, according to Islam, is intrinsically like her male partner. She is a human being endowed with the same essence of nobility, which is shared by the whole human species. As far as human quality is concerned, men and women are absolutely alike:
"O mankind! Revere your Lord, Who created you from a soul and from that created its mate, Who thereof brought forth multitude of men and women." (4:1).
Moreover, each one, man and woman, will be held responsible for his own individual self:
"….and every one of them will come to God, on the day of Resurrection, alone." (19:95).
This means that those who either believe, or whose behavior reveals the unconscious concept that woman is an inferior being who has to be subjugated, that she is merely an instrument for the self-indulgence of man-such people require a radical reorientation of their attitude towards womankind. Such people, by clinging to such unhealthy ideas, or through such unhealthy conduct, are grossly distorting God-given human nature and killing potentialities of thought, feeling and vitality in their partners of life.
It should also be clear that the unbridled self-will of certain women in other societies, or of those of our own who blindly imitate them, should not be countered by extremism on our part: by imposing on women what God has not imposed upon them, or by forbidding them what God has not forbidden. We should remember that women in the western world began to lean in the wrong direction from definite causes, at least some of which were undoubtedly related to social injustices, under the dead weight of which, women had languished for so long, imprisoned and ignorant, with no will or personality of their own. They revolted against this injustice-and this revolt was a completely natural and genuine one. Then they began to lean in the wrong direction, becoming stubborn and headstrong. The same type injustice continues to have its strong-holds in our own society, where there are still people, though very few, who are proud of the fact that since the wedding night when their wives were driven home, they have not seen the street once. There are still other who consider themselves entitled to beat their wives if they dare to disagree with their views and advance an opinion of their own. Again, there are those who spend year after year with their wives and daughters without sitting down to discuss a problem with them or attempting to make them share their views.
Who would claim that any of these has anything to do with Islam? On the contrary, it is Islam that elevated women to heights of prestige, which have neither precedent nor parallel in human history. At a time when womanhood in the West was held in such a state of impurity that even a woman's was an evil pollution of the Bible, Qur'anic manuscripts were held in the trust of the Lady Hafsa at Medina. At a time when Romans held conference to debate whether woman was a "person" or a "thing", Muhammad (SAWS) stood up to declare that "women are but the sisters of men" and to shatter the pre-Islamic era of darkness and injustice, so that a woman could argue with the Holy Prophet in the courtyard of the mosque and say, "I have been deputed to you on behalf of woman!" Indeed, it was Islam which, for the first time, established the status of women full-fledged members of human society and granted them the right to owe whatever they earned since the Qur’an proclaimed:
"Unto men of fortune from that which they have earned, and unto women of fortune from that which they have earned." (4:32).
Whatever standards of decency Islam has laid down in matters of dress and behavior between man and woman, they are all with the sole intention of ensuring the sanctity of the home and the inviolability of marital intimacy. Not one of these standards could ever imply an attitude directed towards humiliation of woman as regards her social status or her role in her relationship with man. When a newly married girl complained to the Prophet that her father had chosen her husband without consulting her, he immediately gave her permission to annul her marriage, to which she replied: "I have no personal objection to my husband and I accept him, but I wanted it to be known that a father has no right to impose a husband upon his daughter without her consent." In contrast to the then prevailing ignorance and plutocracy of tribal traditions, Muhammad (SAWS) enjoined the quest of knowledge as an integral part of faith, for men and women alike. He praised highly the women of Ansar with:
"Blessed be those whose modesty never prevented them from seeking knowledge."
Far from being rough or rude, Muhammad's (SAWS) consciousness of women's tenderness and delicacy was so intense that even in the impelling harshness of the desert, he gently appealed to Anjashah, the caravan driver:
"O Anjashah, slow down a little, for thy camels are carrying glasses!"
This is only a glimpse of Islam: thus, how could we possibly be justified in so grossly distorting it by all sorts of misconceived traditions and beliefs? What could be more unjust, whether to Islam or to ourselves, than to misrepresent as we do, or rather to deform the beautiful features of Islam? And consider when?-at a time when we are encountering the movement of so-called progress and emancipation, which is advancing like a storm and wreaking havoc in our lives.
It is imperative to realize that the really weak points in our society are those that provide genuine cause for feminine revolt, which can subsequently take an extremist turn and ultimately lead to unbridled feminine self-will. If we are serious about resisting this unhealthy trends, it is our duty to call a stop where God has done so, and combat the deceptive, misleading elements we are encountering by adhering to what God has laid down for us. We should neither depart from anything which God has decreed out of weakness or compromise, nor add anything to it from extremism and severity.
These things are relevance for all Muslims. But they are of particular importance to those who are actively devoted to the revival of Islam. I fervently wish that such people would put these ideas into effect; would stop at the point where the Shariah stops, and have the courage to proclaim and insist on what God has made binding on us, and that alone. This is essential in creating a strong wall around whatever of virtue and purity remains in our society. It is to be hoped that by so doing the workers for the cause of Islam will have created a real barrier, one strengthened by the word of God and His Prophet, against the sweeping, devastating storm which threatens Islam today. For, if matters are not clarified, and confusion is allowed to reign as it does today, if the good aspects are not separated from the bad, both in theory and by good example, the result of this confusion is bound to be this: the good elements will be mistaken for bad, and both will be swept away by the rising storm. This will not be in the least surprising. For there is neither a divine code which is being sincerely adhered to, nor is there any social system based on experience and clarity of outlook, and God has not appointed a gendarme to regulate the conflicting traffic of good and evil.
by Dr. Said Ramadan
Director, Islamic Centre, Geneva
Courtesy: Young Pakistan, September 24, 1968
Saturday, 25 July 2009
WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME??!!!
Taken from Islamic minds
I woke up suddenly one night
and saw a strange light in my room .....
The problem is that the lights are off
I saw the clock, it was 3.30 in the morning
Okay...so where is all this light coming from??
----------
I turned around and saw something very strange..
My body was half way through the wall (??!)
I immediately pulled it out and sat down to see if i'm okay
.....
This is strange...
I tried to push onto the wall, but MY ARM GOES THROUGH
...
I heard a sound
I turned to my brother's bed to see him sleeping
I was really scared of what was happening to me...so I tried to wake him up....but....he doesn't reply!!
I went to m y parent's bedroom..I tried to wake up my mother...and father...I just wanted somebody to react to me...
but nobody did.
I tried to wake my mother up again...she woke up this time...
-----
she got up ... but didn't communicate to me
She was saying "In the name of Allah, most Merciful, most Gracious" (بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم) again and again...
She woke my dad up saying 'get up, man, I want to check up on the kids.'
My dad replied in disinterest .. 'it's not time for this, let me sleep and inshAllah tomorrow i'll get to that'
But she was insisting..so he woke up.
I was THERE. I was screaming..'dad', 'mum' ... nobody was replying
I held mother's clothes to grab her attention..but she didn't recognise my existence
I followed her 'till she got to my bedroom
They got into the room and turned on the lights...
it wasn't making any differenc e to me anyway because there was a strong light there.
I then saw the strangest thing in my life...
my OWN BODY....on my bed.
I was trembling...how can there be two of me??...how can that person look so much like me??...and what is he doing on my bed????
I started hitting/slapping myself to wake up from this nightmare...
but it was too real to be a nightmare.
dad said 'Yalla, see the kids are sleeping. Let's go back to bed.'
but mother wasn't at all confident...she went to the person sleeping in my bed and said
'Khalid, wake up!! ... WAKE UP!!'
but he wouldn't reply.
She tried again and again....but no reply.
Then i turned to see my dad tearing...
Today witnesses the first time in my life that I have seen my dad's tears.
The place was shaking with the screaming
... My brother woke up..."What's going on??!"
In a very sad tone, with tears rolling down her cheek, mother replied 'your brother's dead! Khalid is DEAD!!'
------
I went to mother and said 'please mum...don't cry..I'm right here look at me!'
But nobody's replying to me..WHY??
I turned to Allah and asked Him to wake me up from the nightmare!
quickly following my dua was a voice saying (Quran):
" You were in negligence from this, so We uncovered the blinds and today your sight is (like iron) "
لقد كنت في غفلة من هذا فكشفنا عنك غطاءك فبصرك اليوم حديد
Suddenly two creatures held my arm..they weren't human!!
"Leave me ALONE! Who are you and what do you want from me??"
'We're your grave's guards'
I said 'but I'm not dead yet! let go of me!!'
I can still see, hear, touch, and speak..I'm not dead!
They replied with a smile : "You humans are fascinating! You think that by dying your life ends, while in fact life on Earth is a small dream compared to the Here after; a dream that ends at your death."
They started pulling me towards my grave...
On the way I saw people just like me, each had two guards like mine.
Some were smiling, others crying, others screaming.
I asked the guards 'why are they all doing that?'
They replied 'These people now know their fate...some were in ignorance so they--'
'--so they go to Hell??!' I interrupted
They said 'yes.'
and continued..
'and those laughing are going to Heaven'
I quickly replied: 'What about me..where will I go??'
They said 'you were at times a good Muslim, while other times not. One day you obey Allah, the next you disobe y Him.. And you weren't clear with yourself and your fate will remain so: lost.'
I replied, shaking: 'SO AM I GOING TO HELL??'
They said: ' Allah's mercy is great, and the journey is long '
I turned to see my family carrying my dead body in a coffin..so i ran to them ..
I said: 'make dua for me'
but nobody replied..
I went to my brother and warned him ... 'be careful with what you do in this life... don't be a fool like myself!'
I was really hoping that he could hear me...
The two angels (guards) tied up my soul on top of my body ..
I saw my relatives pouring sand over me ..
----
at that moment I was hoping that I would be in their place...
that I can turn to Allah and do as much as He wants from me...
that I would ask for forgiveness and once and for all repent my sins that angered Him...<>
but unfortunately I couldn't.
I shouted ' People, don't let this life tempt you! Wake up to the truth... one day you will DIE, and you never know when..or how. '
I hoped for somebody to hear me....nobody there did
but YOU heard me....
save yourself.
Smile to others, forgive them when you have the power to punish them. Allah forgives those that forgive others. Do your prayers regularly with an open heart. Let Allah guide your life, not Satan.. Read the Quran regularly and let the Prophet (p.b.u.h) be your role model in life.
Work in this timed life for your salvation in an eternal one.
And ... make dua for me because I'm not perfect. And I point the above to myself just as much as I do to my friends.
Please spread this message to as many people as possible, for every person whose heart it touches Allah will reward you in this life and the hereafter.
Keep thinking of the Hereafter inshallah .
I woke up suddenly one night
and saw a strange light in my room .....
The problem is that the lights are off
I saw the clock, it was 3.30 in the morning
Okay...so where is all this light coming from??
----------
I turned around and saw something very strange..
My body was half way through the wall (??!)
I immediately pulled it out and sat down to see if i'm okay
.....
This is strange...
I tried to push onto the wall, but MY ARM GOES THROUGH
...
I heard a sound
I turned to my brother's bed to see him sleeping
I was really scared of what was happening to me...so I tried to wake him up....but....he doesn't reply!!
I went to m y parent's bedroom..I tried to wake up my mother...and father...I just wanted somebody to react to me...
but nobody did.
I tried to wake my mother up again...she woke up this time...
-----
she got up ... but didn't communicate to me
She was saying "In the name of Allah, most Merciful, most Gracious" (بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم) again and again...
She woke my dad up saying 'get up, man, I want to check up on the kids.'
My dad replied in disinterest .. 'it's not time for this, let me sleep and inshAllah tomorrow i'll get to that'
But she was insisting..so he woke up.
I was THERE. I was screaming..'dad', 'mum' ... nobody was replying
I held mother's clothes to grab her attention..but she didn't recognise my existence
I followed her 'till she got to my bedroom
They got into the room and turned on the lights...
it wasn't making any differenc e to me anyway because there was a strong light there.
I then saw the strangest thing in my life...
my OWN BODY....on my bed.
I was trembling...how can there be two of me??...how can that person look so much like me??...and what is he doing on my bed????
I started hitting/slapping myself to wake up from this nightmare...
but it was too real to be a nightmare.
dad said 'Yalla, see the kids are sleeping. Let's go back to bed.'
but mother wasn't at all confident...she went to the person sleeping in my bed and said
'Khalid, wake up!! ... WAKE UP!!'
but he wouldn't reply.
She tried again and again....but no reply.
Then i turned to see my dad tearing...
Today witnesses the first time in my life that I have seen my dad's tears.
The place was shaking with the screaming
... My brother woke up..."What's going on??!"
In a very sad tone, with tears rolling down her cheek, mother replied 'your brother's dead! Khalid is DEAD!!'
------
I went to mother and said 'please mum...don't cry..I'm right here look at me!'
But nobody's replying to me..WHY??
I turned to Allah and asked Him to wake me up from the nightmare!
quickly following my dua was a voice saying (Quran):
" You were in negligence from this, so We uncovered the blinds and today your sight is (like iron) "
لقد كنت في غفلة من هذا فكشفنا عنك غطاءك فبصرك اليوم حديد
Suddenly two creatures held my arm..they weren't human!!
"Leave me ALONE! Who are you and what do you want from me??"
'We're your grave's guards'
I said 'but I'm not dead yet! let go of me!!'
I can still see, hear, touch, and speak..I'm not dead!
They replied with a smile : "You humans are fascinating! You think that by dying your life ends, while in fact life on Earth is a small dream compared to the Here after; a dream that ends at your death."
They started pulling me towards my grave...
On the way I saw people just like me, each had two guards like mine.
Some were smiling, others crying, others screaming.
I asked the guards 'why are they all doing that?'
They replied 'These people now know their fate...some were in ignorance so they--'
'--so they go to Hell??!' I interrupted
They said 'yes.'
and continued..
'and those laughing are going to Heaven'
I quickly replied: 'What about me..where will I go??'
They said 'you were at times a good Muslim, while other times not. One day you obey Allah, the next you disobe y Him.. And you weren't clear with yourself and your fate will remain so: lost.'
I replied, shaking: 'SO AM I GOING TO HELL??'
They said: ' Allah's mercy is great, and the journey is long '
I turned to see my family carrying my dead body in a coffin..so i ran to them ..
I said: 'make dua for me'
but nobody replied..
I went to my brother and warned him ... 'be careful with what you do in this life... don't be a fool like myself!'
I was really hoping that he could hear me...
The two angels (guards) tied up my soul on top of my body ..
I saw my relatives pouring sand over me ..
----
at that moment I was hoping that I would be in their place...
that I can turn to Allah and do as much as He wants from me...
that I would ask for forgiveness and once and for all repent my sins that angered Him...<>
but unfortunately I couldn't.
I shouted ' People, don't let this life tempt you! Wake up to the truth... one day you will DIE, and you never know when..or how. '
I hoped for somebody to hear me....nobody there did
but YOU heard me....
save yourself.
Smile to others, forgive them when you have the power to punish them. Allah forgives those that forgive others. Do your prayers regularly with an open heart. Let Allah guide your life, not Satan.. Read the Quran regularly and let the Prophet (p.b.u.h) be your role model in life.
Work in this timed life for your salvation in an eternal one.
And ... make dua for me because I'm not perfect. And I point the above to myself just as much as I do to my friends.
Please spread this message to as many people as possible, for every person whose heart it touches Allah will reward you in this life and the hereafter.
Keep thinking of the Hereafter inshallah .
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