Iman is Speech & Action

(Taken from: “The Illuminating Creed”.  By: Ibn Qudhama Al Hanbali)

 

“Iman [faith] is a statement of the tongue, an action of the limbs and a belief of the heart. It increases with obedience and decreases with disobedience.

 

Allah says;

‘And they were commanded not, except that they should worship Allah alone, making the Religion sincere to Him, and establish the prayer, and give the Zakah, and that is the right religion.’ (98:5)

 

So He has placed the worship of Allah, the sincerity of the heart, the establishment of prayer and the giving of Zakah, all as being from the Religion [i.e. Iman].

The Prophet said, ‘Iman consists of more than seventy branches. The highest of them is to testify that La ilaha illa Allah [None has the right to be worshiped but Allah]. And the lowest of them is removing a harmful object from the road.’”

“Knowledge has a part in every virtue & ignorance has a part in every vice”

(Taken from: “Points on Knowledge” [Point 54] – By: Ibn Hazm al-Andalusi)

  

The usefulness of the knowledge [of good) in the practice of virtue is considerable: anyone who knows the beauty of virtue will practice it, though it may be rarely. Knowing the ugliness of vice, he will avoid it, though it may be rarely.

The man with knowledge of the good will listen to soundly-based praise and desire it for himself. He will listen to talk of evil and desire to avoid it. From this premise it necessarily follows that knowledge has a part in every virtue, and ignorance has a part in every vice.

A man who has had no instruction in the knowledge [of good) will not practice virtue unless he has an extremely pure nature, a virtuous constitution. It is the particular state of the Prophets (peace and the blessings of God be upon them) for God has taught them virtue in its entirety, without them having learnt it from men.

“We supplicate and we are not answered…”

(Taken from Khushoo fis-Salaat (p.62) of Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali – rahimahullaah)

Ibraheem ibn Adham, may Allaah have Mercy upon him, was a third century scholar, a teacher and a companion of Sufyaan ath-Thawree, and he was asked about the saying of Allaah – The Most High: “And your Lord says: ‘Call on Me, I will answer your prayer…’” [Soorah Ghaafir, 40:60]

[Someone said to him]: “We supplicate and we are not answered.”

So he said to them:

“You know Allaah, Yet you do not obey Him,
You recite the Qur’aan, Yet you do not act according to it,
You know Shaitaan, Yet you have agreed with him,
You proclaim that you love the Messenger of Allaah, Yet you abandon his Sunnah,
You proclaim your love for Paradise, Yet you do not act to gain it,
You proclaim your fear for the Fire, Yet you do not prevent yourselves from sins,
You say: “Indeed death is true”, Yet you have not prepared for it,
You busy yourselves with finding faults with others, Yet you do not look at your own faults,
You eat that which Allaah has provided for you, Yet you do not thank Him,
You bury your dead, Yet you do not take a lesson from it.”

If I knew which night is Laylat ul-Qadr…

`A’ishah (radhiAllâhu `anha) reported that she asked Allâh’s Messenger sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam:

“O Messenger of Allâh! If I knew which night is Laylat ul-Qadr, what should I say during it?” And he instructed her to say:

‘Allahumma innaka ‘affuwwun tuhibbul ‘afwa fa’fu ‘anni’’

‘O Allâh! You are forgiving, and you love forgiveness. So forgive me’.”

[Recorded by Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and at-Tirmithi]

“When those who fast for Allah in the heat are patient…”

(By Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali)

“Abu ad-Darda’ would say: “Fast the very hot days in anticipation of the Day of Resurrection, and pray two rak’at in the darkness of night in anticipation of the darkness of the grave.” And it’s reported in the two ‘Sahih’s that he said: “You have seen us with the Messenger of Allah (saw) on some of his journeys on very hot days, and a man would hold his hand against his head due to the intensity of the heat, and none of them would be fasting except the Messenger of Allah and ‘Abdullah bin Rawahah.” And the narration of Muslim states that Abu ad-Darda’ said: “This was during the month of Ramadan.”

When those who fast for Allah in the heat are patient despite their intense thirst, He set aside a specific gate of the gates of Paradise for them. This is the gate called Rayyan, and whoever enters through it will drink, and whoever drinks after entering it will never be thirsty again. When they enter through it, it will be locked for those after them, and none will enter through it except them…”

There is a great secret in fasting…

(Taken from: “30 Lessons for Those Who Fast” By: Ai’id Abdullah al Qarni)

 

“There is a great secret in fasting: that is to worship Allah and seek His Pleasure by submitting to His orders and surrendering to His laws by forsaking one’s desires, food and drink.  Fasting therefore represents the triumph of a Muslim over his desires and the predominance of a believer over his inner self.  It is half of patience.  Whoever is unable to fast without any good reason, will never master his self or conquer his desires.

 

O fasting person, know that by your sacrifice and giving you are actually giving a loan to your Lord for the day of your poverty and need…O fasting person, know that a drink of water, a taste of milk, a handful of dates, the little food, money, clothes and fruits that you give to the needy are all it takes to clear your way to Paradise.  O fasting person, know by Allah, that nothing preserves wealth like charity.  Nothing purifies wealth like the Zakaat…

 

The month of happiness and generosity has come to you,

So greet it with the most beautiful memories.

O season of forgiveness embrace us

You are the Patron, O time of righteousness.

O Allah grant us the return of many days of Ramadan over many years, in garments of righteousness and renewed repentance.”

The Month of Patience

Ibn `Abdul-Barr (d.464H) rahimahullah said: “What is meant by the month of Patience is the month of Ramadhaan …So fasting is called patience because it restrains the soul from eating, drinking, conjugal relations and sexual desires.” (At-Tamheed- Al Haafidh ibn Abdul Barr) 

The Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam said: “Every deed of the human being is for himself and its reward is multiplied for him from ten to seven hundred times. Allaah says: ‘Except for fasting, for truly it is for Me and I alone will reward it, for verily he abandoned his desires, his food, and his drink for my sake.’ The one who fasts experiences two joys, one upon breaking his fast and one when he meets his Lord. Surely the breath of the fasting person is sweeter to Allaah than the fragrance of musk.” [Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim]

“…as long as he is not hasty.”‏

 

The following passage is taken from a book called “Dua: The weapon of the believer” by Yasir Qadhi.

Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet sallahu alaihi wasalam said:

 

“The dua’a of any worshipper will continue to be responded to, as long as he does not ask for a sin or breaking the ties of kinship, and as long as he is not hasty”.

 

It was asked, “O Messenger of Allah? And what does it mean to be hasty?” He sallahu alaihi wasalam responded:

 

“A worshipper says, ‘I have prayed and prayed, and I don’t see that it will be accepted’, so he gives up hope of being answered, and leaves du’a.” [ Muslim ]

 

 

Ibn al-Qayim mentions: “And of the diseases that afflict du’a and prevent its response is that a person is hasty in expecting a response, and the response is delayed, so he gives up hope, and leaves du’a.  His example is like that of a person who planted a seed, or a seedling, then guarded it, and took care of it, and watered it, but when it delayed in (giving its fruit) and reaching perfection, he left it and did not take care for it anymore.”

 

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O Allah we love to ask and you love to be asked so O our rabb we ask you to make us amongst those who will never stop making dua to you. Ameen

Patience

The following passage is taken from a book called “The Way of Patience and Gratitude.” 

The soul is the mount on which we ride to Paradise or Hell-fire, and patience is its rein.  Without a rein, the animal may redirect its course.

Al-Hajjaj said,
“Suppress your own souls, because they are looking forward to committing sins.  May Allah have mercy on whomever that has bound it to Allah’s obedience; keeping away from disobedience to Allah.  To be patient, keeping away from Allah’s forbidden things, is easier than to be patient in His punishment.“

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O Allah equip our hearts with patience to fight the desires of this world, Ameen.

“So rush to the Gardens of Eden…”

“[The people of knowledge] do not take this world as their home nor are they content with it as a place of residence nor as a place of rest. Indeed, they only see it as a transition and they do not take it as an abode.” (Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbalee)
Regarding this, Ibn Al-Qayyim (rahimahullaah) wrote in his book his book Haadee Al-Arwaah (pg. 7):

“So rush to the Gardens of Eden for indeed
it is your original home, and in it is a place of rest.
However, we are in the captivity of the enemy, so don’t you see?
Shall we return to our homes and find peace?
And it has been determined that when the stranger is far away
and his home has disappeared, then he is lost.
So what type of strangeness is greater than our strangeness
which the enemies amongst us have manifested?”

 (For more read: Alleviating Grievances in describing the condition of the Strangers. Written by: Al-Haafidh Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbalee)