Is Marriage like dating....

Assalamu alaikum

A very short  potent advice by Nouman Ali Khan for all married and soon to be married people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-f1oNzC-Yw&feature=youtu.be

and Allah (swt) knows best!

Pearls of Wisdom 346

1. Nothing pleads on your behalf like extreme need, nor does anything speed gifts to you quicker than lowliness and want.

2. People praise you for what they suppose is in you; but you must blame your soul for what you know is in it.

3. When He lets praise of you burst forth, and you are not worthy of it, praise Him for what He is worthy of.

4. Your desire that people know your particular distinction is a proof of insincerity in your servanthood.

5. Make mankind's looking at you disappear by being content with God's looking at you!

6. Slip away from people's approach to you by contemplating His approach to you.

7. He who knows God contemplates Him in everything.

8. He who is extinguished by Him is absent from everything.

9. He who loves Him prefers nothing to Him.

10. Sometimes you will find more benefit in states of need than you will find in fasting or ritual prayer. [Ibn Ata'Illah]

Five Wisdoms....

1. If we are right, then there is no need to get angry.
And if we are wrong then we don't have any right to get angry.

2. Patience with family is love
Patience with others is respect.
Patience with self is confidence.

3. Never think hard about past, It brings tears.
Don't think more about future, It brings fears.
Live this moment with a smile, It brings cheers...

4. Every test in our life makes us bitter or better.
Every problem comes to make us or break us.
Choice is ours, whether we become victim or victorious.

5. Search a beautiful heart, not a beautiful face.
Beautiful things are not always good, but good things are always beautiful.

Lesson of the Day 1346

Ayahs of the Day:
Whoever heeds the messenger is being obedient to God. As for those who turn away, We have not sent you as a guard over them. [4: 80]

Hadith of the Day:
Charity to indigent is charity, but charity to kin is both charity and nurturing of (kinship) bonds. [ Tirmidhi]

Wise Quote of the Day:
Everyone in this world is a guest, and his wealth and belongings are but a loan. The guest must go sooner or later and the loan must be returned. [Ibn Mas'ud radi Allah anhu]

Guidance of the Day:
When you give charity, begin with your poor relatives and kinsmen, and your needy neighbors, for they are more deserving than others, and the reward for giving them is greater and more abundant.

Make your charity secret, for it is stated in hadith that its reward is seventy times that of publicly donated charity. Secret charity is better because it is more likely to be sincere, and sincerity is the spirit of works. It is less likely to be subject to ostentation which ruins works. So beware of ostentation in your charity and in all your works. Beware of showing the poor how obliged you expect them to be, for there are severe threats against such behavior. [Counsels of Religion by Imam al-Haddad]

Food for Thought:
If there be any truer measure of a man than by what he does, it must be by what he gives. Generosity during life is a very different thing from generosity in the hour for death; one proceeds from genuine liberality and benevolence, the other from pride or fear. What we gave, we have; what we spent, we had; what we kept, we lost.

Imam Ibn al Jawzi's precious advice....

Imam Ibn al-Jawzi (ra) in his letter of advice to his son, wrote:

Know, dear son, that days are but hours, and hours are but breaths, and every soul is a container, hence let not any breath pass without any benefit, such as on the Day of Judgment you find an empty container and feel regret! Be aware of every hour and how it passes, and only spend it in the best possible way; do not neglect yourself, but render it accustomed to the noblest and best of actions, and send to your grave that which will please you when you arrive to it."

This world is transitory and our life therein but a moment borrowed, our breaths numbered, yet our indifference reckless. [Abu Bakr al Siddiq]

Strive for Paradise. A small nook within its bliss is better than the whole world and all the riches within. [al Hadith]

A believer is never tired of hearing about good deeds until he enters Paradise. [al Hadith]

Pearls of Wisdom 345

1. We care more about burning calories and loosing weight than abandoning sins and lightening our burden on the day of Qiyamah.

2. Character is made by many noble deeds, but it may be lost by a single bad act.

3. Life is all about balance, and one of the most difficult balances is between freedom and responsibility, and balance between this world and the hereafter.

4. He lives a long life who lives in the hearts of people.

5. The real knowledge is that which is translated into action.

6. Between the hopes of tomorrow and the regrets of yesterday lies the opportunities of today.

7. Keep your fear to yourself and share your courage with others.

8. Let it not be that the people donate their funds to you and earn Paradise, and you abuse their accumulated funds and earn hell for yourself.

9. A missed opportunity to give is surely a lost opportunity to receive. [Shaykh Sulaiman Moola]

An emotional true story -- the nurse and the Muslim

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHa1ST7-JNU&feature=em-subs_digest

The most needed advice....

“O my eye! All men have eyes!”

Let not your tongue mention the shame of another
For you yourself are covered in shame-

And all men have tongues.

If your eye falls upon the sins of your brother
Shield them and say:-

“O my eye! All men have eyes!”

Imam Shafi'i (Rahimahullah)

"Never Despair Of The Mercy Of Allah"

'Son of Adam! You are nothing but a number of days, whenever each day passes then part of you has Gone.'

[Al-Hasan Al-Basree]

Lesson of the day 1345

Ayahs of the day:
What good happens to you is from God, and what bad happens to you is from yourself. [4: 79]

Hadith of the day:
God -- Exalted is He -- says, 'O son of Adam! Expend and I shall expend upon you.' [Muslim]

Wise quote of the day:
Silence -- the best remedy for anger. [Othman radi Allah anhu]

Guidance of the day:
Never disdain any act of goodness to the extent of failing to do it. Give a charity every day, however small and start early in the day with your charity, for hardship does not bypass charity. The meaning here is that the charity you give becomes a barrier that prevents the hardships that threaten you from reaching you.

Should a beggar come to you, never send him away disappointed, but give him something however small. Should you choose not to or are unable to, beware of rebuking or insulting him, but send him away gently and amiably. It is possible for a person to rebuke a beggar in such a manner that were he to give him half his wealth, it would still outweigh it; neither will the reward for giving it ever equal the sin of that rebuke.  [Counsels of Religion by Imam al-Haddad]

Food for thought:
The only way to have a friend is to be one. Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity. Friendship without self-interest is one of the rare and beautiful things of life.

The Fruit of Imaan

The Messenger of Allah (Sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “A Momin does not taunt, does not curse and reproach, does not indulge in obscene talk and obscene acts.” [Tirmidhi]

Daily check list:

Did we make any sarcastic comments to anyone today?
Did we by word or gesture make fun of anyone today?
Did we insult anyone today?
Did we demoralize anyone today?
Did we put someone down for a mistake that they made?
Did we curse anyone today?
Did we say anything vulgar today?
Did we do anything obscene today?

We need to check ‘No’ next to each of these questions everyday to qualify as Momineen, inshaAllah. May Allah Most High grant us the tawfeeq to implement this hadith in our lives, ameen.

Pearls of Wisdom 344

1. Do not isolate or magnify the mistake of your companion, but rather view it in relation to all of his/her other good deeds.

2. One of the many reasons why the pious had "barakah" in their lives is they spent minimum time on necessities and zero time in sins.

3. Life has become hectic, we meet only at weddings or funerals. We should not spoil those rare meetings with nasty comments -- lest we lose that too.

4. Old age is a great boom for those who fear Allah, they have ample time to atone for their previous sins, otherwise a serious liability.

5. A smile is a passport that will take us any where we want to go, and a charity that will fill the hearts of humanity.

6. Avoid disappointment through minimizing expectations from others, including your children. [Shaykh Sulaiman Mulla]

The true understanding of intellect and knowledge....

Any intellect which does not have three things is overpowered by lust:

1. To give preference to obedience (to Allah Most High) over disobedience.

2. To give preference to knowledge over ignorance.

3. To give preference to Islam over this world.

Any knowledge that does not have three things is even worse:

1. Abstaining from harm by severing desire.

2. Presence of deeds with fear.

3. Meting out justice through generosity and mercy.

An intellect that is overpowered by lust is an intellect that deludes the person. It causes him to look at evil as being something good and vise versa.

No one has been embellished with anything better than intellect. And no one has worn a garment more beautiful than knowledge. This is because Allah Most High can only be truly recognized through the intellect. And He can only be truly obeyed through knowledge.

The great Tabai'i Urwa bin Zubayr (may Allah has mercy on him) said: "The best thing that the servants are given in this world is intellect, and the best thing they are given in the hereafter is the pleasure of Allah Most High." [Imam Harith al Muhasibi]

Lesson of the day 1344

Ayahs of the day:
God commands you to repay pledges to the people due them; and to judge with justice when you judge between people. Excellent is what God instructs you; for God is all-knowing, all-seeing. [4: 58]

Hadith of the day:
There is nothing dearer to Allah than supplication. [Tirmidhi]

Wise quote of the day:
Worrying about this world is a darkness in the heart, while worrying about the Hereafter is a light in the heart. [Imam al Hajr al-Asqalani]

Guidance of the day:
To withhold zakah is one of the greatest major sins. Against such behavior great threats and severe warnings have been proffered by God and His Messenger.

It is part of good manners of paying zakah to do so from the best of one's possessions. This is the most praiseworthy manner of doing it. And also to do it willingly, with pleasure, feeling good about it, grateful to those who deserve to receive it, never acting as if they are indebted to you.  To give away one's zakat while seeming to reproach for taking it annuls its reward. [Counsels of Religion by Imam al-Haddad]

Food for thought:
"I can forgive, but cannot forget,"is only another way of saying, "I will not forgive." Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note -- torn in two, and burnt up, so that it never can be shown against one. Humanity is never so beautiful as when praying for forgiveness, or else forgiving another.

We should always thank Allah for giving us:

1. Enough happiness to keep us sweet.

2. Enough trials to keep us strong.

3. Enough sorrow to keep us human.

4. Enough hope to keep us happy.

5. Enough failure to keep us humble.

6. Enough success to keep us eager.

7. Enough friends to give us comfort.

8. Enough enthusiasm to make us look forward.

9. Enough wealth to meet our needs.

10. Enough determination to make each day a better day than the last.

Pearls of Wisdom 343

1. The righteous man entrusts his dependents to Allah and commits them to His safe keeping. As for the immoral hypocrite, his dependents must rely on his wealth  and whatever legacy he leaves for them from his real estate and his business.

2. The human is mixed, a blend of good and evil, so if the good predominates he is connected to the angels, and if the evil predominates he is linked to the devils.

3. Destiny (Qadar) smiles at those who are content with the divine judgment. It takes them by the hand and leads them to the King.

4. You must observe your duty (taqwa) to Allah and practice obedience to Him. Fear no one and pin your hopes on no one. Entrust all your needs to Allah, and look to Him to supply them.

5. Surrender yourselves before God in the manner of the devout saints; then God will hold you just as dearly as He did the devout who went before you. Therefore follow His command and bear every affliction with patience. Adhere consciously for this was the path chosen by the sages, the  path that will lead you to the ultimate freedom.

6. Do not lose hope  in adversity and complain that God singled you out for punishment, remitting others guilty of worse sins. Your present state could very well be His intent to elevate your spiritual station; or He could just be testing your faith. Every day that you persevere, you grow closer to perfection. Thus your present despair may be the beginning of an infinite blessing.

7. If you are destined for good fortune you will be blessed; if afflictions have been ordained, no matter where you abide they will seek you out. Submit therefore before the will of God; be grateful in well-being and endure adversity with fortitude that His light may radiate within your being.

8. Do not be confused with ignorance; turn toward and not away from Allah. Have faith in Him and refrain from transgression. For it is Allah and no other creature who can grant or take away life. He is the Infinite and will always reign Supreme. He bestows prosperity, and decrees poverty. Fear Him alone and none other; adhere to Him that you may prevail. [Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jillani]

Life of this world -- finger dipped in ocean.....

Rasul Allah (Sal Allahu alaihi wasallam) said: “By Allah, this world in comparison to the Hereafter is nothing but as though one of you dipped his finger in the sea. So ponder how much (of sea water), the finger returns with.” [Mishkaat]

The duration of the Day of Judgment is equal to 50,000 years. The sun will be brought overhead so that it is unbearably hot. People will be drenched in their sweat according to the amount of their sins. Some will be ankle deep in it, some will be in it up to their ears. In this condition, people will be standing for hundreds of earth years and not even a minute of that day will have gone by. Those who love Allah (Subhana wa ta’ala) in this world will be under the shade of Allah’s Throne on the Day of Judgment – the only shade available that Day.

That is why Luqman Hakeem advised his son: “Serve this world according to the time you are going to spend in it, and work for the Akhirah according to the time you are going to spend in it.” After we have been standing in the same spot for thousands of years, our life on earth is going to look like nothing!

We need to make a ration of our time on earth compared to our time on the single Day of Judgment. If we live for a hundred years, it is 100: 50,000. The time to spend each day in the pursuit of dunya comes out to be less than 3 minutes! The rest of the day should be spent preparing for the Day of Judgment. If we were to make a ratio between the time to be spent in dunya compared to the time in Akhira, it would be 100 years: infinity. Any number compared to infinity becomes zero. Effectively, the significance of the duration of dunya becomes zero. 0 minutes, not even 3 minutes! How is it possible that we spend all our time preparing for the Akirah?

We can be in the state of worship (ibadah) every single moment of our lives just by living according to the Quran and the Sunnah. We need to evaluate what we do -- shun the things Allah has prohibited, and act upon the things we do in accordance with the teachings of our Deen. We need to realize that our lives are too precious to be wasted -- not trying to please our Creator/Sustainer every moment of our lives.

Our dunya can be spent working for the Akhirah -- at the same time that we fulfill our duties on earth just by fulfilling our roles and responsibilities according to the guidance of Allah (Subhana wa ta'ala). We need to ask ourselves, "Are we spending all our time on earth working for the Akhirah?"  May Allah grant us tawfeeq and the company of those who bring us closer to Himself, ameen.

Lesson of the day 1343

Ayahs of the day:
And do not desire what God has favored some of you with more than others. Men are to have a portion of what they have earned and women are to have a portion of what they have earned. And ask God for plenitude from divine grace; for God knows everything. [4: 32]

Hadith of the day:
It is not permissible for a Muslim to forsake his brother for more than three (days). [Bukhari]

Wise quote of the day:
He who remembers Allah with all his heart will find that everything other than Allah will leave his heart. [Yahya bin Mu'adh]

Guidance of the day:
Do not prefer the life of this world over the next, for the next is better and more enduring  -- zakah is one of the five pillars of Islam and God has bound it to the ritual prayer in His Book. He who pays his zakah receives a great reward, a generous recompense. By so doing he will enjoy many benefits, both religious and worldly. There are in wealth afflictions, temptations, and problems. He who pays his zakah will be safe from these.

The possessions of he who pays his zakah remains safe from damage or ruin, it is protected and guarded by God, for it is full of barakah, but possessions for which zakah has not been paid will suffer damage, for it is evil and devoid of barakah. What good, what benefit can there be in wealth the barakah of which has been removed, leaving the evil and temptations? [Counsels of Religion by Imam al Haddad]

Food for thought:
The one who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears. Nothing in life is to be feared -- it is only to be understood. Fear is the tax that conscience pays to guilt. Logic and cold reason are poor weapons to fight fear and distrust. Only faith and generosity can overcome them.

Glad tidings to the strangers!

Rasul Allah (Sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Islam initiated as something strange, and it will revert to its (old position) of being strange. So,glad tidings to the stranger!” [Muslim]

Today, we have become so distant from Islam that the way in which the Prophet (Sal Allahu alaihi wasallam) did some things appears strange to us. Even people who welcome Islam in their lives, find Muslims behaving strangely, which on further investigation turns out to be the recommended behavior in Islam.So we should not shy from being perceived as strange.

Someone asked the Prophet (Sal Allahu alahi wa sallam), “Who are the strangers?” He replied, “The ones who break away from their people for the sake of Islam.” The Prophet (Sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) gave glad tidings to those who will be cut off from their people because they choose to follow Islam. Everybody else’s lifestyle will have become so contrary to Allah's wishes, that the person who follows Islam will appear strange and will be rejected.

http://dailyhadith.adaptivesolutionsinc.com

Pearls of Wisdom 342

1. Give priority to the hereafter over this world, because you will then gain both of them.

2. Before you can preach to others, there is a necessary precondition to be met: you must be a Believer. It is not proper for the servant to summon his fellow creatures to the Lord of Truth before having personally attained Him.

3. Every single one of the people of Allah has a police force to protect his heart, they combat the lower self, the natural urges, the passions and highway robbers on the road to Allah.

4. You must soon return to the Lord of Truth, who will ask about your deeds. He created you for a purpose of affirming His Oneness.

5. He did not create you for the sake of this world, nor for the sake of the hereafter -- but rather He created you for Himself.

6. This world can neither satisfy your hunger nor quench your thirst. It is deceitful and cunning. Your tragedy is due to the attachment you pay to your lower self.

7. Your fascination with the superficial aspect of this world is due to the controlling influence of your lower self.

8. If you become detached from your lower self, your heart will speak to you. Then the inner most being will relate to you both. Then the Lord of Truth will befriend you.

9. Assign your outer being to the creation and your heart to the hereafter. As for the inner most being you must lodge it to the Lord of Truth, beyond both this world and the hereafter. [Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jillani]

Who do we really love?

A man asked the Prophet (Sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam), "When will the Hour be established O Allah's Apostle?" The Prophet (Sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) asked, "What have you prepared for it?" The man said, "I haven't prepared for it much of prayers or fast or alms, but I love Allah and His Apostle." The Prophet (Sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, "You will be with those whom you love." [Bukhari]

Three important points to be noted are:

1. There is something more important than knowing when the Day of Judgement will occur. The more important thing is our preparation for that Day. What good or bad deeds have you sent forth for that Day? Each person's Judgement begins as soon as they die, and their grave becomes either a pit of fire or a garden of Paradise. Therefore, the most relevant thing to worry about is our daily deeds, as we never know when we will die and our Judgement commence.

2. The questioner in the hadith did the Fardh (required) prayers, fasts, and charity but not a whole lot extra. Some people do the opposite; they neglect the Fardh while doing a lot of the nafil (supererogatory). This is misguidance, because the greatest reward is for Fardh deeds and punishment is for neglecting the Fardh, not the nafil

3. Most sobering is that we will be with the people we love on the Day of Judgement. If we love the righteous, God fearing Believers, we will be with them and will follow them to Jannah. We can peek into our heart to see who it is we really love -- the proof of love is in appreciating and trying our best to do what they. This will tell us where we will be on the Day of Judgement.

May Almighty Allah fill our hearts with the love of His lovers, ameen.