A Brief Reminder

How often do we neglect the most important things in life. We chase after worldly things, but they always slip through our fingers. We rarely take the time to sit down and focus on what is truly important. We need to return ourselves to Allah. We need to learn the sunna of the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, and implement it in our lives. This is the only thing that is real in this life. All things are perishing except the face of Allah. And it is only through the sunna that we are able to realize this. Nothing in this life is of benefit, except what pertains to the deen.

And now for something somewhat different

This has been pulling at me to write about here lately, and I think I will go ahead and tackle the subject. This issue of open air urinals in men's restrooms. Who decided that men don't need privacy? This seems, to me at least, as a very odd sign of masculine insecurity. Why must men prove that they are able to relieve themselves in this manner? This is completely ridiculous. And, to compound matters, there is the issue of placement of said apparati. They are invariably right in front of the door. This is definitely not the best of locations.

Now, for those of us that like to be alone when we go to the restroom, why must we be subject to this? I know that there is no way women would allow this to happen in their restrooms. Even for non-Muslims this isn't the ideal situation. I really think that we should speak out against these kind of things. When we go to the restroom there is proper ettiquette that needs to be observed, and having this visual afront is not part of it.

Humanism

What makes us human, all too tragically human? Our ability to, even in our weakest of moments, rise above ourselves. We, as humans, are able to take what we are, and make the decision to be other than that. No beast is able to do this. Mere animals are as they are, and nothing more. They are only able to change through what is external to them. We, however, are able to make the conscious decision to change. When we make that decision, we always have two options. We can either rise above ourselves and shine, or we can lower ourselves. We must always keep this in mind. We must make that decision at all times. We can never falter. We must continue to strive in the way of Allah, and never look to the left or the right. We must head steadfast on the straight path. Continue to climb! Rise! Become what you were meant to become.

What kind of friend are you?

I've been pondering over this question lately...and it really has me thinking. But, before one can answer any question certain terms must be defined. So first, lets ask what we mean by a friend. I would say that we definitely do not mean anyone who would be a bad influence, as anyone who would lead you astray cannot be your friend. We also must agree that a friend of utility is no friend at all. So what are the qualities of a friend that we are looking for? When we talk about friends, we assume that they are friends for our own sake. A friend is someone who seeks the good for you. He is there for you no matter what, and is always willing to take you back. He gives, and expects nothing in return. He only wants what is best for you, and is pleased when you are pleased.


We must ask ourselves if we live up to these qualities, which are only a few. Do we portray these to our brothers and sisters? More importantly, do we portray these qualities to Allah? Allah most certainly has these attributes; and what better friend than He? Allah gives us our very being, and we can give nothing in return. He is always there to accept our repentance, but we always turn away. When it comes time to defend what is Allah's we shrink up. When Allah asks of us we procrastinate. This is no friend indeed. We then wonder why bad things happen in our lives. If we are unwilling to be the friend of Allah, then who do we have? Nobody can provide anything, except by the will of Allah. When we squander His bounties we have no room for complaint when things come up short. So, we must ask ourselves this one simple question. What kind of friend are you?

Retaliation

With the release of the latest slander against Islam, whose name I will not even mention, I have become reflective on our state as an Ummah. We are the Ummah of the Prophet of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and as such we are supposed to follow his example. I must question whether or not we are doing this in this time. What did our beloved Prophet do when the ignorant would accost him? We all know the story of the man who came to the Prophet and demanded more of the spoils of war. Did the Prophet snap back at him? No. When Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, stood up to defend the Prophet, did he allow it? No. Instead, the Prophet gave the bedouin what he demanded was due to him. Now, what resulted from that? The bedouin accepted Islam.

What do we do when we are accosted? Do we ask the attacker what right of theirs we have violated? No. We stand up ready to attack, just as Umar had done. Someone speaks poorly about Islam out of sheer ignorance, and because they feel threatened, and we attack back. The truth is manifest from error. We should rely upon Allah, not on what meager actions we think will help. When we attack our accuser, we only confirm what they are saying. Instead of advocating inane boycotts of a whole nation, maybe we should ask our accuser what we can do to help the situation. The Prophet was always more willing to be wronged than to wrong another. The examples are clear. We should really study the example mentioned above, as well as the treaty of Hudaybia. The Prophet want to make sure that people, even non-Muslims, got their due. This is our duty. We must give people their due, even if we wrong ourselves in the situation.

There is, of course, a caveat in the above. We cannot violate our Deen in fulfilling the rights of other people. If they demand that we do something haram, then we cannot budge on this issue. If they demand that we leave an obligation, then we cannot budge on this issue. However, if they demand that we have short changed them in some way, then we must make it right. And most importantly, we must do it out of love and concern.

What Kind of Warner Are You?

I have had the bad habit of reading the news all too regularly here lately. The state of affairs of humanity has become burdonsome, it is, like the cliche goes, like a ton of bricks coming down on one. We are so misguided, and chase after ephemeral dreams, and for what? This reminds me of what I heard a shaykh say about the meaning of nadhir. Nadhir, for those of you who might not know, is the Arabic word for warner, and is used to describe the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in the Qur'an. Shaykh Husain Abdul Sattar, the shaykh whom I heard discussing this from his tafsir series at sacredlearning.org, discussed that there were two different types of warners. The first type is one who threatens. This is like a robber with a gun who warns you that if you don't give him your money, then he will kill you. The second type of warner is like the parent who sees his child approaching a great harm. He warns the child that if he continues, then he will be hurt.

If we look at the two types of warner, we see a distinct difference in their motives. The first is warning for his own selfish motives, and with disregard for the one he warns. He is only giving the person an out, a way to avoid a harm that the warner himself does not mind inflicting to get what he wants. The second type of warner, however, is warning out of love and deep concern. There is nothing in it for the parent, in and of itself, whether or not the child gets hurt. The parent warns the child so that he does not become injured. Instead the parent would rather see the child live painlessly, for he knows that that is what is best for the child. The distinction is quite clear.

To return, a nadhir is the second type of warner. This is what the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was. He did not act out of threat, rather out of concern and deep love for all of humanity. There was nothing in it for him if anyone accepted his message, he was the Elect of Allah, His Chosen. There was no personal gain for him to be had. He deeply loved humanity, and he saw the Hellfire in front of him as much as he saw Paradise. He knew, and could see, where people were heading. He knew the danger was real for us, whether or not we see it ourselves. Out of his deep love for us he warned us of where we are headed.

Now, we must ask ourselves what kind of warner are we? How often do we condemn someone for our own selfish feelings and motives. We want to look better, or feel that we are better than the other person. We are only threatening that person, telling them that if they don't give us what we want, then there are consequences.

However, we should look at the other person with love and compassion. We need to demonstrate mercy towards the other person. When we warn and make dawa, we need to do it because we have true concern for the creation of Allah. We need to want what is best for them. We need to save them from the fire into which they are heading headlong. This is important, because this is sincerity. And it is our hearts that Allah will judge.