DEATH

"Every soul shall have a taste of death. And you will be paid on the Day of Ressurection only that which you have fairly earned. Whosoever is removed from the fire and is made to enter paradise, he indeed is triumphant. The life of this world is but a comfort of illusion."[Qur'an,Surah 3: verse 185]

How many of us have witnessed and know of people around us that have walked this earth but are no more?! Everyday, every nano second we hear and see death taking over a soul. Yet how heedless we are for we don't realise it'll be our time soon, the hour is close and the angel of death is waiting, ready to snatch our souls for when Allaah has appointed!

We truly don't realise or take into account this occurence which is SURELY to take place until we are put in a position where we are witness to it first hand.

When a member of your family passes away, thats when it hits for their presence is no longer around you and the surety of death strikes you. Alhamdulillaah (All Praise belongs to Lord, Al-Mighty) for theres hikmah (wisdom) in this, as it is a remembrance for those of us still walking on this journey in this temporary abode, to remember our time will certainly come but when we do not know, so gotta prepare before its too late!

My nan passing away recently made me assess and think about the life of this world and how quickly our time will pass. As I aided in washing her body, I couldn't describe the sensation I felt at that very moment. SubhanAllaah! All that went through my head was that I too will be in that position, while others surround and wash me and cover me in simple shroud which will be the only thing I'll be taking with me along with my deeds! If any of you have witnessed or taken part in washing a dead body, I am sure you will agree the emotions are indescribable!

So let us remember that death could be around the corner for any of us and take heed in the sayings of The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings be upon him) who responded when he was asked by a man from the Ansaar (helpers):

'Which of the believers are the best?'
He (May Allaah's peace and blessings be upon him) responded;
' Those who are best in character.'
Then the man asked:
'Which of the believers are the most intelligent?'
He (May Allaah's peace and blessings be upon him) replied:
'Those who remember death the most, and those who are best prepared for what comes after it. These are the intelligent ones.'

On the authority of al-Baraa ibn 'Aazib (May Allaah be pleased with him) who said: While we were with the Messenger of Allaah (May Allaah's peace and blessings be upon him), he suddenly looked towards a group (of people) and said:
'For what reason have they gathered here?'
It was said: In order to dig a grave.
So the Messenger of Allaah (May Allaah's peace and blessings be upon him) became alarmed and startled and he quickly went ahead of his Companions until he reached the grave, then he knelt upon it, and I turned my face towards him (May Allaah's peace and blessings be upon him), in order to see what he was doing. He (May Allaah's peace and blessings be upon him) cried until the earth became wet with his tears, then he turned to us and said:

'O my brothers! Prepare for a day like this.' [Bukhari]

Following is a clip I recommend you watch and remember every breath is a precious jewel...our end will certainly come...when the soul shall leave our body and we shall breathe our last breath...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9HIEZN7XHk

[Quote]:

Do not leave the invocation of Allaah (dhikr) because of your lack of presence with Allaah therein, for your heedlessness of invocation is worse than your heedlessness in invocation. It may well be that He raises you from invocation with heedlessness to invocation with attentiveness, and from invocation with attentiveness to invocation with presence of heart, and from invocation with presence of heart to invocation in which there is absence — from anything besides the Invoked,

‘and that is not difficult for Allaah’ [Qur’ân 14:20].

Invocation Of God
Al-Wabil al-Sayyib
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya

Written in the fourteenth century by the renowned theologian Ibn Qayyim, this treatise movingly details the many blessings of the remembrance of God. Through discussion of the ego, the nature of the body, the ephemerality of the world, the degrees of prayer, fasting, charity, and the purification of the heart, this beautiful written work is a genuine contribution to the Muslim spirituality. What makes this work of great interest is that it illustrates the devotional and spiritual life of author and the great interest he had in spirituality. This work is a significant addition to the knowledge of this important thinker; it sheds light on an aspect of his personality that is not often recognized and helps to balance and do justice to his writing and his thought.

Isnt it just devine to pick up a great book, one which has a real sense of meaning that is (!) and be so caught up in awe of its eloquence and depth??!!

I have picked this book up twice now and my mind still cannot fully comprehend some parts...I think this is why its wise to go to the seminars given by people who can break it up into small pieces to allow us lay people to take in and digest bit by bit. -For those of you who have attended such a class, please share the gems of knowledge you have gained!

Hmm...I always ponder about getting closer to Allaah. One sister once said to me, when I am in congregation, I wish for Allaah to see me and pick me out from the crowd and say I am His beloved slave. SubhanAllaah! I always think of this wherever I go and when in a crowd. You can never tell how your words can effect anothers heart! And her words still echo soothingly in my ear. How we all yearn to be one that Allaah is pleased with and in turn announces to the angels of His beloved!
Invocation of Allaah is one way of treading the path to becoming that very person. Ibn Al-Qayyim (May Allaah have mercy on his soul) has indeed explained this beautiful deed in a detailed and touching way.

Excerpt from the book:

In the Name of God, Merciful and Compassionate

On the Paths to Happiness

[This is a treatise written by our teacher, the learned Imam Shams al-Din Abu ‘Abd Allah, Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub ibn Sa’id, better known as Ibn al-Qayyim (may God sanctify his soul, illumine his grave and unite us in the Abode of God’s Generosity). He said:]

There is neither strength nor power save in God Almighty. It is God we implore—and whose answer we await—to watch over you in this world and the next, to shower you with His graces, outwardly and inwardly, and to make you among those who, when blessed, give thanks; when tried, persevere; and when sinful, seek forgiveness. For these three conditions are tokens of the servant’s happiness [sa’adat al-abd], and the signs of his success in this world and the next. No servant is without them, but is always shifting from one to the other.

The first condition is the blessings which come to the servant from God (Most High), one after another. What secures them is gratitude [shukr], based on three supports: inward recognition of the blessing; outward mention and thanks for it; and its use in a way that pleases the One to whom it truly belongs and who truly bestows it. Acting thus, the servant shows his gratitude for the blessing—however brief.

The second is the trials from God (Most High) which test the Servant, whose duty therein is patience [sabr] and forbearance: to restrain himself from anger with what is decreed; to restrain his tongue from complaint; to restrain his limbs from offences, such as striking one’s face in grief, rending one’s clothes, tearing one’s hair and like acts. Patience, then, rests on these three supports, and if the servant maintains them as he should, affliction will become benefaction, trial will change to bounty and what he disliked will become what he loves. For God (Exalted and Sublime) does not try the servant in order to destroy him. Rather, He tries him to put his patience and devotion [al-ubudiyyato the test. For the servant owes devotion to God in affliction as in ease. He must have as much devotion in what he hates as in what he loves. And while most people offer devotion in what they love, it is important to do so in the things they hate. It is by this that servants’ ranks are distinguished and their stations determined.

Ablution with cold water in searing heat is devotion. Sexual relations with one’s beautiful and beloved spouse is devotion. Spending money for her, for one’s children and for oneself is devotion. It is devotion no less than ablution with cold water in the bitter cold; giving up vice to which one’s soul is driven without fear of people; and giving charity in hardship. But there is a great difference between the [two kinds] of devotion.

He who is God’s servant in both states, maintaining his duty in both comfort and adversity, is the one to whom His words refer, ‘Is not God sufficient for His servant?’ With complete devotion comes complete sufficiency, and with less comes what is less. Let him who discerns some good give praise to God, but let whoever finds something other than this blame no one but himself.

These are the servants over whom God’s Foe has no control. God said [to the Devil], ‘Lo! As for My servants, you have no power over them.” And when His Foe Iblis learned that He would not let His devoted servants yield to him or give him control over them, he proclaimed, ‘Then by Your Might, I will surely beguile them all save for Your sincere servants among them. And God (Most High) said, ‘And Iblis found his calculation true, for they [all] followed him save a group of true believers. And he had no warrant whatsoever over [any of] them save that We might know the ones who believe in the hereafter from those who doubt it.’ God will not yield to His Foe control over His faithful servants. They are in His protection and His care. If the Devil robs any of them, as the thief robs the heedless man, this cannot be avoided, because by heedlessness, passion and anger is the servant tried. It is by these same three doors that the Devil comes to him. Try as he may to protect himself, the servant is bound to be heedless and given to passion and anger.

Adam, the father of all humanity, was the most discerning of creatures, their superior in wisdom, and the most steadfast. Yet the Foe kept after him until he made him fall into that which he fell. What then of someone with the reason of a moth, whose intelligence compared to that of his father [Adam] is like a spittle in the ocean? Still, the Foe of God obtains nothing from a faithful person except by robbing him in [a moment on inattention and carelessness. And when he causes him to fall, the servant may think that he can never again face his Lord, that this fall has carried him away and destroyed him. Yet behind it all is God’s grace, mercy, clemency and forgiveness.

For if God intends what is good for His servant, He will then open for him the doors of repentance [al-tawba] and remorse, abasement and humility, dependence and need; the doors of the request for God’s help and protection; the doors of perpetual humility, supplication and the approach towards Him by means of whatever good works he can manage—so that his wrong may become a means to God’s mercy. For the Foe says, ‘Alas, I left him without causing him to fall!’

This is what one of the early believers [salaf] meant when he said, ‘A person may commit a sin by which he goes to heaven and a good deed by which he goes to hell.’ ‘How?’ someone asked. He replied, ‘Having committed the sin, he is ever watchful in fear, regretful, timorous, lamenting, shamed before his Lord, his head in his hands and his heart rent. The sin that brings him all that we have mentioned, wherein lie his happiness and salvation, is more beneficial to him than numerous devotional acts. Indeed, it becomes the means by which he enters Heaven.

[On the other hand], he may perform a goodly deed and constantly laud it before his Lord, wax proud, boast, become vain and haughty with it, as he says, ‘I did this, I did that.’ His self-importance, pride and arrogance provide him only with the means to his own ruin. If God intends then what is good for this miserable person, He will try him through something that breaks [his pride], abases him and reduces his self-importance. But if He intends otherwise, He will leave him to his self-importance and pride, and this misfortune is what leads to his ruin.’

GUARDING THE TONGUE

Oh heart!
Why do you seek to weaken your already dead soul?
For the nafs can only take so many blows
And its sickness only increases each time a misdeed is done
So better to stay silent than utter what cannot be undone
Look to your tongue, which Allaah hath made so light
Yet it is this part of the body that burdens you with such might!
It strikes without a thought before its venom is released
And then the heart reflects with regret at the sharpness of its sting
For the tongue will either be a weapon for you or against you
A snake which if cannot be controlled now, will not avail you…
On the day where all the deeds will be accounted
Our fate for our eternity will then be decided
Woe to you tongue…Woe to you heart…
Look within you and search to improve before your soul departs!
Bint Nowaab

Allaah the Most High says:

“Not a word does one utter, except that there is an (angel) Watching, Ready to record it.”

[Surah Qaaf: 18]

Know that every individual who falls under the category of being responsible for his actions (mukallaf) must safeguard his tongue from all types of speech, except for that speech which consists primarily of some benefit.

So when speaking and refraining from speech are both found to contain the same amount of benefit within them, then the Sunnah is to refrain from it, altogether. This is because the allowable speech (equal in benefit and harm) paves the way towards that which is forbidden as well as disliked. Rather, in most cases, this will be the outcome and applying safety, at that point, will not be able to soothe it in the least.

Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)said:

"Whosoever believes in Allaah and the Last Day, then let him speak good or remain silent."

[Saheeh Al-Bukhaaree]

This hadeeth (saying of the prophet), of which the scholars have agreed upon its authenticity, is a clear proof that one should not talk, unless his speech is good—and that is the speech that consists primarily of benefit. So if one has doubt as to whether or not his speech consists of benefit, then he should not speak.

Imaam Ash-Shaafi'ee (rahimahullaah) said:

"When one desires to talk, then it is upon him to think before he speaks. If there is beneficial good in what he will say, then he should speak. And if he has doubt about that, then he must not speak until he clears that doubt (by making his speech good)."

Abu Moosaa Al-Ash'aree said:

"I said: 'O Messenger of Allaah Which of the Muslims is best?' He said: 'He whose tongue and hand the Muslims are safe from.'"

[Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim]

Sahl Ibn Sa'ad reported that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

"Whosoever can guarantee for me (that he will safeguard) what is between his jaws (tongue) and what is between his legs (private parts), I will guarantee for him Paradise."

[Saheeh Al-Bukhaaree]

Abu Hurairah reported that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say:

"Indeed, the servant will speak a word, while being unaware of (its consequences), and due to it, he will be cast into the Hellfire, farther than the distance between the east and the west."

[Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim]

The meaning of "while being unaware" is that he does not stop to consider whether his speech is good or not.

Sufyaan Ibn 'Abdillaah reported that he said:

"O Messenger of Allaah , tell me of a matter that I may cling tightly onto.' He said: 'Say: I believe in Allaah and then remain steadfast (upon that).’ I said: 'O Messenger of Allaah , what is the most serious thing that I should fear for myself?' So he took a hold of his tongue and said: 'This.'"

[An authentic hadeeth reported by At-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah and others]

'Uqbah Ibn 'Aamir reported:

"I said: 'O Messenger of Allaah , how does one attain salvation?' He said: 'Restrain your tongue, remain in your home and weep over your sins.'"

[An authentic hadeeth reported by Ibn Al-Mubaarak in Az-Zuhd and it has support in Ahmad]

Abu Sa'eed Al-Khudree reported that the Prophet said:

“When the Son of Aadam wakes from his sleep, all of his body parts seek refuge from his tongue, saying: ‘Fear Allaah with regard to us, for indeed we are part of you. So if you are correct, then we will be correct and if you are corrupted, then we shall be corrupted.”

[A hasan hadeeth reported by At-Tirmidhee and others]

[Taken from Al-Adhkaar of Imam An-Nawawi]

THE LIGHT OF GUIDANCE

How the eloquence and beauty of the Qur’aan penetrates the soul…An inspiring story…

Assalamu Alikum Wa Rahamatul Allahi Wa Barakatu.

I was coming back from a long journey, and Allaah decreed that my seat in the airplane should be beside a group of carefree young men whose loud laughter and voices were too much, and the air was filled with clouds of smoke from their cigarettes. By the wisdom of Allaah, the plane was completely full and I could not change my seat.

I tried to escape from the problem by sleeping, but it was impossible… When I got fed up of their noise, I took out my Mus-haf (copy of the Qur’aan), and started to read what I could of the Qur’aan in a soft voice. Soon after that these young men started to quieten down. Some of them started to read newspapers, and some of them fell asleep.

Suddenly one of them said in a loud voice, even though he was sitting right next to me, “Enough! Enough!”

I thought that I had disturbed him because my voice was too loud, so I apologized to him and carried on reading in a whisper that only I could hear. I saw him holding his head in his hands, then fidgeting in his seat, moving a lot. Then he raised his head and said to me angrily, “Please, stop it, I can’t stand it!!”

Then he got up from his seat and went away for a while, then he came back, greeted me with salaams, and apologized. He fell silent, and I did not know what was going on. But after a while he turned to me with his eyes full of tears and said to me in a whisper, “For three years or more I have not put my forehead on the ground (prostrate in prayer), and I have not read even one aayah (verse of the holy Qur'aan)!

For a whole month I have been on this trip, and there is no evil action that I did not indulge in. Then I saw you reading Qur’aan, and my world turned black and my heart was filled with despair. I felt as if someone was strangling me… I felt every aayah that you read coming down on my body like a whip .

I said to myself, for how long will this negligence go on? Where will this path lead you? What will happen after all this foolish play? Then I went to the washroom, do you know why?

I had the strong urge to weep, and I could not find anywhere else to hide from the people’s sight!”

I spoke to him in general terms about tawbah (repentance) and turning back to Allaah, then he fell silent.

When the plane landed, he stopped me, and it seemed that he wanted to keep away from his companions. He asked me, with a serious expression on his face, “Do you think that Allaah will accept my repentance?” I said, “If you are sincere and serious in your repentance, then Allaah will forgive all your sins.”

He said, “But I have done terrible things, very terrible.”

I said, “Have you not heard what Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

‘Say: O ‘Ibaadi (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allaah, verily, Allaah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft‑Forgiving, Most Merciful’ [al-Zumar 39:53]?”

I saw him smiling with joy, with his eyes filled with tears, then he bade me farewell and left. Subhaan Allaah al-‘Azeem!

No matter how great a man's evil and sin, in his heart there is a seed of goodness. If only we can reach it and make it grow, it will bear fruit, in sha Allaah.

This seed of goodness is always fighting in man's heart, even when it is covered by layers of whims and desires. When Allaah wills good for His slave, He causes the light of guidance to shine in his heart and guides him to the path of those who are guided. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And whomsoever Allaah wills to guide, He opens his breast to Islaam; and whomsoever He wills to send astray, He makes his breast closed and constricted, as if he is climbing up to the sky” [al-An’aam 6:125]

Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmaan al-Swiyaan