Thursday, November 30, 2017

Pearls of Wisdom 408

1. Live with heart, body, and soul for today only, without dwelling upon the past
and without being anxious for the future.

2. Being preoccupied with the past and dragging past woes into present -- these are
the signs of an unstable and unsound mind.

3. Idleness is destructive, and most people who suffer from worries and anxieties
are the same people who are idle and inactive.

4. Rumors and gossip are the only dividends for those that are bankrupt of
meaningful and fruitful work.

5. Do what is right, and turn your back to every vulgar criticism.

6. Forbearance buries the faults, tolerance is superior, silence conquers the
enemy, and forgiveness is honor for which we shall be rewarded.

7. When facing criticism or unjust rebuke, those who have sensitive feelings
must pour a certain amount of coolness into their nerves by force.

8. Forbearance in the times of distress is the path to both success and happiness.

9. Higher goals are not achieved through dreaming or fantasizing; they can only
be reached through dedication and commitment.

10. Hardships strengthen our heart, atones for our sins, and helps to suppress
an inclination towards pride and haughtiness.

Thursday, November 23, 2017

Thanksgiving is the gratitude we need to develop....

1. "Gratitude helps you to grow and expand; gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life and into the lives of all those around you." Eileen Caddy

2. "Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." Marcel Proust

3. "Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude." Ralph Waldo Emerson

4. "Perhaps you went to bed last night thinking about the overdue bills, the lack of finances, the problematic people and situations you have to face. This morning you woke up. Did you give thanks? If you didn't, it is probably because you forgot that when praise goes up, the blessings come down. That should be enough to inspire you to be thankful." Iyanla Vanzant

5. "Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings." Elizabeth Gilbert

6. "Gratitude is like a magnet; the more grateful you are, the more you will receive to be grateful for."  Iyanla Vanzant

7. "The struggle ends when gratitude begins.” Neale Donald Walsch

8. "Real love is opening your heart to the unlovable. Real gratitude is giving thanks when things aren't perfect. Real generosity is sharing when you have very little. Real courage makes the 'impossible' --possible, with real faith." Bryant McGill

9. "I would like to thank every single person who has ever been unkind to me.  You taught me to be even kinder to others." Steven Aitchison

10."When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. When life is bitter, say thank you and grow." Shauna Niequist

11. "There will always be people in your life who treat you wrong. Be sure to thank them for making you strong."  Zig Ziglar

12. "Gratitude is the single most important ingredient to living a successful and fulfilled life."Jack Canfield

13. "Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are."Marianne Williamson

14. "If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough." Meister Eckhart

15. "The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.” -- Dalai Lama

16. "Happy are those who take life day by day, complain very little, and are thankful for the little things in life." Unknown Author

17. "Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." Marcel Proust

18. "When each day is the same as the next, it’s because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day." Paulo Coelho

19. "Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.” Maya Angelou

20. "The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.” Henry Ward Beecher

Sunday, November 12, 2017

Understanding Jihad....

1. Jihad is the struggle to remove all those things from one's life that incur Allah's displeasure, and to replace them with those things that will gain His acceptance.

2. Jihad is the struggle against one's inner self and it's bestial inclinations. It is this struggle, in fact, which the Prophet of Islam (Allah's blessings and peace upon him) dubbed "the greater jihad."

3. Jihad is the struggles against the villains in our hearts which include: arrogance, avarice, pettiness, selfishness, jealousy, greed, self-delusions, and vain passions.

4. Jihad is the struggle to replace the villains in our hearts with goodly traits, such as mercy, honor, humbleness, generosity, gentleness, dignity, love, and other qualities that are aptly described as "heavenly."

5. Jihad is the struggle to fulfill the rights and responsibilities of one's family as well as those who are close, such as neighbors and relatives, to make sure that one does not harm them either with his hand or tongue.

6. Jihad is the struggle to forgive the wrongs of others, to overlook their misgivings, and hide their faults.

7. Jihad is the struggle to help the needy, the orphan, the widow, and the homeless by sacrificing our wealth.

8. Jihad is to show love and gentleness to our young ones, and respect and dignity to our elders.

9. Jihad is to protect the honor and property of every single member of society, whether man or woman.

10. Jihad is the struggle to speak out against injustice, to help the victims of oppressions, to ensure that everyone is given just measure, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or religion.

11. Jihad is to submit our will to Our Creator, thereby achieving peace and unity with the rest of the cosmos in celebrating His Majesty and Glory.

12. Jihad is ultimately that struggle in which we are willing to give our lives in the name of Allah so that these ideals will endure and bring peace and justice to countless others, thus truly bringing the harmony of the heavens down the earth.

Tuesday, November 07, 2017

Lesson of the day 1415

Ayahs of the day:
And do not insult what they pray to besides God, lest they revile God in a hostile way, without knowledge. Thus do We make every people's actions seem charming to them; but then their return will be to their Lord, who will inform them of what they had been doing. [6: 108]

Hadith of the day:
Whoever desires that Allah increase his provision and extend his life, let him maintain his family ties. [Bukhari]

Wise quote of the day:
O my people prove the sincerity of your respect for the Qur'an by putting its teachings into practice, not by arguing about it. [Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani]

Guidance of the day:
The essence of gratitude is for the servant to know that all the favors in his possession, outward as well as inward, are from God and by His grace and munificence. It is part of gratitude to rejoice and to thank in the presence of favors because they are the means to work in God's obedience and attain to His proximity.

It is part of gratitude to busy oneself with God's obedience, use His favors as a help in doing so, and use them as God likes them to be used - this is the utmost gratitude. One should not become arrogant, boast before others of the blessings he has been granted, transgress, wrong others, or overstep the limits in dealing with them. He who does so has not been thankful, but has denied God's favors. Denial leads to dispossession and to one's blessings being changed into afflictions. He who shows gratitude deserves goodness and increase. [Counsels of Religion by Imam al-Haddad]

Food for thought:
Marriage, like money is still with us, and, like money, progressively devalued. In every marriage more than a week old, there are grounds for divorce. The trick is to find, and continue to find, grounds for marriage. More marriages might survive if the partners realized that sometimes the better comes after the worse.The bonds of matrimony are like any other bond -- they come slowly.