Friday, September 30, 2011

You will reap what you plant....

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust.
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.
If you plant perseverance, you will reap victory.
If you plant consideration, you will reap harmony.
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap success.
If you plant openness, you will reap intimacy.
If you plant patience, you will reap improvements.
If you plant faith, you will reap miracles.

If you plant dishonesty, you will reap distrust.
If you plant selfishness, you will reap loneliness.
If you plant pride, you will reap destruction.
If you plant envy, you will reap trouble.
If you plant laziness, you will reap stagnation.
If you plant bitterness, you will reap isolation.
If you plant greed, you will reap loss.
If you plant gossip, you will reap enemies.
If you plant worries, you will reap wrinkles.
If you plant sin, you will reap guilt.

Monday, September 26, 2011

LESSON OF THE DAY 1287

Ayahs of the day:
Surely anyone who surrenders his being to God and is a doer of good will have his reward with his Lord and there will be no fear upon them, and they will not sorrow. [2: 112]

Hadith of the day:
Abandon anything that gives you doubt for what gives you no doubt. Truthfulness is peace of mind and lying is doubt. [Tirmidhi]

Wise quote of the day:
If men wish to draw near to God, they must seek Him in the hearts of men. They should speak well of all men, whether present or absent, and if they themselves seek in a light to guide others, like the sun, they must show the same face to all. [Shaykh Abu Sa'id bin Abil Khair]

Guidance of the day:
While we cannot resemble the Messenger (peace and blessings upon him) physically, we can -- and should -- try to resemble him in our behavior and actions. Doing so is our way of promising God that we will do good deeds, that He may protect us from Hell.

Islam teaches that virtue also consists in avoiding sins. Pursuing virtue, whether by observance or avoidance, prayer and remembrance, or establishing the Revealed Law and justice, are essential elements of Islam's unity. Such unity is integral, for one part cannot be separated from another.

While even the wisest philosophers have gone astray, the most ordinary Muslims have been able to lead upright lives because they follow the clear way of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings upon him). Muslims who seek God's approval and take the Prophet (peace and blessings upon him) as their guide can lead a most fruitful life, one in harmony with their deepest nature as responsive and responsible creatures of God. [M. Fethullah Gulen]

Food for thought:
Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the after glow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best. Shoot for moon -- even if you miss you will land among the stars.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Pearls of wisdom 316

1. When a man is satisfied with God's decrees, it is a sign that God is satisfied with him.

2. Eternal life is gained by spiritual sacrifice and by renunciation of self-interest in fulfilling God's commandments.

3. Mortification stands in the same relation to contemplation as Divine blessing to obedience.

4. There is no contemplation without mortification.

5. When you have obtained the knowledge of the lower soul, you recognize that it can be controlled by discipline.

6. When a person resigns himself to God, God protects him.

7. God has caused the prophetic evidences to remain down to the present day and has made the saints the means whereby it is manifested.

8. God is not finite that the imagination should be able to define Him or that the intellect should comprehend His nature.

9. The true object of pilgrimage is not to visit the kaaba, but to obtain contemplation in God. [Above quotes by Shaykh Ali ibn Uthman Hujwiri]

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

The soul is a grinding stone & never left idle

It is well known that man has not been given to power to kill his thoughts nor the strength to severe them.

They invade him just as his breathing invades his body.
However the strength of Imân and intellect helps him to accept his best thoughts , to be pleased with them, to experience peace and tranquility from them.

It also helps him to repulse his most evil thoughts and dislike and recoil from them.

Allâh created the soul similar to a grinding stone that goes round and round – one that does not stop;and always in need of something to grind.If seeds are placetherein it will grind them.If stones are placed therein it will still grind them.So the thoughts that revolve in the soul are like a seed that is placed in a grinding stone.That grinding stone is never left idle.

Something or the other has to be placed inside it. From amongst the people are those whose grinding stone grinds seeds which comes out as flour – which he and others derive benefit from.

But most of them grind soil, stones, straw and so forth – when the time of making the dough and baking comes; he sees the reality of what he ground.

Source:-[Ibn al Qayyim رحمه الله , al-Fawaa’id p31 & 173-174]

Friday, September 16, 2011

LESSON OF THE DAY 1286

Ayahs of the day:
And pray regularly, and give alms; whatever you send forth for your souls, you will find it with God; for God sees whatever you do. [2: 110]

Hadith of the day:
Part of the excellence of a person's Islam is in leaving alone what does not concern him. [Tirmidhi]

Wise quote of the day:
You must fill up your time with acts of worship so that no period of time elapses whether by night or by day, without being used in some act of goodness. [Imam al Haddad]

Guidance of the day:
The vigor and stability of our faith depends upon worship and good deeds. Muslims who neglect the religious obligations may end up doing little more than speaking well of certain ancestors who lived a disciplined, religious life. Faith not nourished by worship and good deeds eventually dies.

Praying five times a day strengthens our faith and renews our covenant with God. As long as we worship with an alert and conscious intent, we receive assurance from God and thereby strengthen our will and ability to fulfill our obligations. [M. Fethullah Gulen]

Food for thought:
Holding to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing at someone else -- you are the one who gets burned. For every minute you remain angry you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind. If a small thing has the power to make you angry, does that not indicate something about your size.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Pearls of wisdom 315

1. Knowledge is a Divine attribute and action is a human attribute.

2. Ordinary people seek indulgences to keep themselves within the pale of the sacred law, but the elect practice self-mortification to feel the fruit thereof in their hearts.

3. God preserves His saints in all circumstances from the guiles of Satan.

4. Learning is not learning unless it is practiced.

5. The heart is the seat of the knowledge of God and is more venerable than the Kaaba.

6. Men are ever looking to the Kaaba, but God is ever looking to the heart.

7. The friends of God behold in every gift and benefit the Giver and the Benefactor.

8. When you are reconciled to God in affliction, you see only the Author of affliction, and the affliction itself does not come.

9. If you are not reconciled to God when affliction comes, your heart is filled with anguish.

10. When a man sees God's choice and abandons his own choice, he is delivered from all sorrow. [Above quotes by Shaykh Ali ibn Uthman Hujwiri]

Friday, September 09, 2011

Words of wisdom....

1. Whoever puts their trust in Allah, Allah will never disappoint them.

2. Allah's help always comes so long as one has patience and perseveres.

3. The love and dedication that parents have for their children is extra special.

4. We need to appreciate our parents while they are still with us.

5. Practicing Islam is not an obstacle to our material progress, in fact it aids our progress.

6. Never give up hope despite the odds.

7. If we work for Allah, Allah will work for us.

"Don't tell Allah how big your problems are...

tell your problems how big your Allah is"

Keep Smiling

Tuesday, September 06, 2011

LESSON OF THE DAY 1285

Ayahs of the day:
Is it that you believe in some of the Book, yet disbelieve in some of it? What is the reward for those who do that, other than disgrace in life in the world? On the day of resurrection, they will be returned to the most intense torment, for God is not heedless of what they do. [2: 85]

Hadith of the day:
No child can repay his father unless he finds him enslaved and then buys him and sets him free. [Muslim]

Wise quote of the day:
In an expansive character lie the treasures of provision. [Imam Ghazali]

Guidance of the day:
To find and deserve guidance, you must strive for it sincerely and search for the ways leading to it. Those whom God has blessed with guidance should set good examples and call others to it through all lawful (Islamic) means. The one who leads another to guidance receives the same reward as the new believer, without any decrease in his or her own reward.

Those who lead others to guidance should not remind them of this by saying such things as: "If I hadn't been a means to your guidance, you never would have been guided." This is a grave sin and shows ingratitude to God, for only God guides and causes one to lead another to guidance.

As for those who found guidance, they should think: "Seeing my need and helplessness, God, my Master, used one of His servants to lead me toward guidance. All praise be to Him." Nevertheless, the one led to guidance should be thankful to the person so used by God. After all, since God is the Creator of us and whatever we do, He also creates the means to enable guidance and misguidance. But this does not negate or diminish our free will when it comes to guidance or misguidance. [[M. Fethullah Gulen]

Food for thought:
He who angers you conquers you. No man can think when his fists are clenched. Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.

Friday, September 02, 2011

Pearls of wisdom 314


1. Every good and evil that happens to man is decreed by God.

2. Implore God to deliver you from the wickedness of your soul.

3. Whoever refrains his soul from lust, verily Paradise shall be his abode.

4. God alone can help a man to do good deeds.

5. Knowledge without action is not knowledge.

6. The Divine knowledge penetrates what is hidden and comprehends what is manifest.

7. It behooves the believer to contemplate God in every act, knowing that God sees him and all that he does.

8. Whoever bows his head with humility, like a servant, God will exalt his state in both worlds.

9. Knowledge and action cannot be divorced in any way, just as the light of the sun cannot be separated from the sun itself.

10. Anyone who pretends to know God without lowliness and fear, is an ignorant fool. [Above quotes by Shaykh Ali ibn Uthman Hujwiri]