The creations of my Lord

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

These are some pictures showing us few of Allah (swt)'s countless beautiful creations. Subhanallah! The beauty of His creation is enough to raise the beating of the heart or to put it the right way - enough to stop it from beating! The beauty of His creation is enough to keep us in awe forever! Subhanallah! The creator of all that's beautiful in existence! Is there any painter who could paint something better? anything similar? Subhanallah! Who is more worth being Glorified than the mastermind behind these beautiful scenaries?

My journey is far

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

The following is an English translation of the work (not a formal/published work though) of Ali bin Hasan bin Ali - Zainal Abedin (the grandson of Ali radiAllahu anhu) . All errors are mine.

My journey is far and my provision isn't enough
And my strength has weakened
And death has impaired of me
And I have many many dhunnob left
Some of which i have commited in public
and some of which i have commited in private.
Only Allah (swt) knows!
How forbearing and kind Allah has been to be
Because He has given me respite
While I enduringly sinned and
He continues to cover me.
The hours of my days passed ...
without remorse, without tears, without fear and without grief.

I who close the doors behind the disobedience of Allah,
while the eyes of Allah watching me.
Leave me to mourn my nafs and to shed tears for it.
And let me pass the rest of the time in remembrance of death, in grief.
Let me shed tears of lamentation, uninteruptedly by per chance One might liberate me.

I imagine myself lying down in bed between my family members.
Their hands over me and i imagine around me those who cry for me;
those who mourn me and those who grief me.
They called for a doctor to help me
But the doctor will not be able to help me.

Pain extenuated when death began to pull my soul from every nerve with no gentleness, without respite.
Making the sound of gargle and my saliva inside became bitter in that.
And then they all left, and left me alone and decided to buy shrouds for me.
And the one most beloved to me shoot hastening the washer to come.
And a man from amongst them came - removed my clothes from me, left me naked and left me alone.
They laid me on the boards and the flow of water began to pour from over me - cleansing me.
And he poured water over me and washed me three times.
And called to bring kafan and they made me wear clothes without sleeves.
And my only provision became perfume and they took me out of this world.
Oh! How distressful it is for a journey without enough provision!
And they laid me on the shoulders of four men and behind me those who mourn me.
And they laid me in front of a pulpit and moved back behind the imam - who prayed and said salaam.
And they said salaah for me without ruku, without sujud - may be Allah would have mercy on me.

They lowered me inside of my grave and elected one of them to lay me in my lahab and he removed the clothe to look into my face and see me one last time.
He let a flood of tears and drowned me - let me in the darkness of the grave with no mother, no gentle father, and with no brother to console me.
What shall I tell Him?
The Munkar and Nakeer have concerned and terrified me?
O my hope Ya Allah!
Grace me with pardon and forgiveness from You.
I'm chained with my own sins!

My family members after they left divided among themselves my possessions
Yet my burden remains on my back weighing against me.
Therefore, let not dunya and its adornments distract you.
Look at what it has done to the people.
See the one who possesses all of dunya - what has he taken with him?

Therefore, take contentment and be pleased with it
even if the only thing you have had of it is repose and rest.
Oh my nafs! See from this disobedience and earn beautiful deeds.
So, Allah may have mercy on me.
Ya nafs! Woe unto you, repent and do a beautiful deed.
Hopefully you will be rewarded beautifully.
Verily the stranger is not the one who comes from the land of Sham and Yemen
But a stranger is one in ladhi and kafan...

---------- from a session with Shaykh Mokhtar.

Love of the sahabas (ra'hum)

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Continued from last entry ...

Rasulallah (saw) also taught “systems of organization” that breaks away from the kingdom type of ruling. Some of the changes brought by Islam that changed the society are:

1. Absolute obedience to Allah (swt) – but everyone else is to be obeyed within the framework of obeying to Allah (swt). There’s no obedience to any creation in disobedience to the Creator. So, people also learned and needed to know there rights so they know when they are being wronged.

2. Rasulallah (saw) became beloved to everyone in the community and that love became very critical and intense and they were practicing everything willingly and with much energy.
· Rasulallah (saw) in bringing change to the newly established society became the most beloved person of all and the most beloved teacher and leader. Their love was so deep that they were practicing and obeying everything out of their deep respect and affection and thus they were doing everything willingly and with such energy. There’s two types of obedience:
i. Obedience out of fear: Ittiba
ii. Obedience out of deep and complete love: ta’at
· They obeyed him (saw), out of ittiba (obeying out of love & respect), not out of ta’at, loving out of fear.

The obedience of the sahabas were out of total love for rasulallah (saw) as they all realized the importance of the reward of the hereafter and how insignificant this world is when compared to the afterlife.

Some examples of how deeply the people loved rasulallah (saw) ....

Umm Jameel & Abu Bakr
During the early days of Islam in Mecca, once Abu Bakr (RA) defending rasulallah (saw), got beaten up in front of the ka’aba so bad that his face could not be recognized anymore. The severity of his condition was to an extent that his facial features couldn't be distinguished - that’s how bad his condition was. People were very sure that he was going to die out of this torture and they carried him home. At the end of the day, when he gained consciousness, seeing this, his mother was overjoyed with the fact that his son gained back life. So, the mother gave him something to drink and was trying to feed him. He kept refusing to eat/drink and at the end of the day when he was able to speak, the first thing that came out of mouth was, “what happened to rasulallah (saw)? How is rasulallah (saw)?” subhanallah! This was their awareness and this is how deep their love was. When we are in fear or danger - it is not very normal to think of another person's wellbeing when we regain consciousness. However, the sahabas' love for rasulallah was beyond our imagination and comprehension.

So, anyways, Abu Bakr (RA)'s mother told him not to worry and take a few sips from the drink. But he kept insisting and then atlast the mother said, how can I find out how Muhammad (saw) is? So, he (RA) told her to go to sister of Omar (RA), umm Jameel, as she would have news of rasulallah (saw). Remember, this was the time when muslims were practicing secretly and even let alone the quraysh, they were scared of disclosing their muslim identity to even the muslims – that’s how cautious they were. Abu Bakr’s mother was not muslim and so she went to Umm Jameel and asked her – ya umm Jameel how’s Muhammad (saw)? I came from Abu Bakr and I’m his mother and he refuses to eat/drink anything till he knows about rasulallah (saw). Hearing this Umm Jameel’s reaction was, "who is Abu Bakr and who is Muhammad (saw)? I do not know any of them." The mother then tried to explain that Abu Bakr’s situation was very critical and she must tell him. To this Umm Jameel repeated the same thing and said see if you want I can go to your son and tell him that I don’t know him. --- See how smart and cautious they were! So, she was taken by Umm Abu Bakr to their house so she could talk to Abu Bakr (RA). Until she saw him in his condition, she was strong. Once she saw Abu bakr's condition, she couldn’t hold her tears anymore and just broke. She started crying profusely and was saying that, "people who do this to you have no shame and I hope Allah (swt) punishes them for you".
So, Abu Bakr (RA) asked her, how’s rasulallah (saw)? She tried to signal that his mother is listening. To this Abu Bakr (RA) said, don’t worry, I know my mother and she will not be of any harm. With this assurance, Umm jameel then said said, “he (saw) is fine”. He asked, ‘where’s he?’ she replied, he’s in the house of Ibn Arqam. Hearing this he (RA) said, I’m not going to drink anything till I see him. He was so insistent and thus she said, wait till it gets dark. So, then the two women took him to see rasulallah (saw) – Abu Bakr (RA) could barely walk and went putting two hands on the shoulders of them.

Urwah ibn Mas’ud As Shukafi
He was among the delegation of the treaty of hudaibiya from among the quraish. Seeing the loyalties of the companions and their love for him (saw), Urwah upon returning to the quraish told them, “ I went to Caesar, Kisra and Negus, but I have never seen a leader who was so glorified and loved by his people like Muhammad (saw)".

One of the women who lost her father, brother, and husband in one of the battles asked people about rasulallah (saw); that how he (saw) is doing and whether he is safe or not etc. To this the people told her that you have lost your father, brother, and your husband in the battle. She replied saying I know. But I’m asking about Rasulallah (saw). So, she went to see him and found out that rasulallah (saw) was alright and when he heard of what happened to her, rasulallah (saw) tried to console her and to this she replied, “Every calamity beside you is nothing ya rasulallah!” - Subhanallah!

In those days people were ready to sacrifice their wealth, power, family - and all their possessions just to gain the pleasure of Allah (swt) and his Rasul (saw) with only one goal - reward in the hereafter. These days do we see this? Today people are ready to give up iman to fit into the society - for power, for wealth and for anything worldly - only to gain this dunya and in their quest to fulfill their worldly needs, little attention do we pay to the hereafter. Subhanallah! See the change in our mentality! Who's being the looser?
So, this was the change in heart and mind setting and in the behavior of individuals and in the entire community that increased their love for Allah (swt), his rasul and towards dawah.

Story of Khubey
He was tortured by the Quraish in such a way that his skin and body parts were being cut into pieces and he was asked, 'wouldn’t you want to be safe at home while Muhammad (saw) is tortured this way?' His reply was – 'Wallahi! I would not exchange my safety with even a thorn touching rasulallah (saw).'
That’s how much the sahabas and the people of that time loved rasulallah (saw). Talk about love! One man witnessed this event of Khubey and he wasn;t a muslim at that time and he didn't say anything. So, long after Hijra the man moved to medina and accepted Islam everytime he used to recall this and he would not only feel bad since he couldn’t do anything but whenever the man would recall this event he would to faint!

Story of the three men from Gazwatul Tabuk
During the time of gazwatul tabuk, rasulallah (saw) were asking people to come and join the army in preparation for the gazwa (war). There were three men who didn’t go even though they were able to in all aspect. One of them was Kaab ibn Malik, who was the youngest among the three. They went to rasulallah (saw) and confessed that they were able but didn’t go. They realized that they commited a great mistake as no other time they were more able to go and join the war than this time. So, they went to rasulallah (saw) to ask what they should do. That is, how should they repent and what is to be done with them? To this rasulallah said Allah would decide on this matter. Until then, they were isolated for 50 days from the community – nobody was talking to them. Can you imagine a person living in a soceity where nobody was talking to them? Today even if our friends and family would forsake us - we would probably move to another location and start over - atleast we would not be detached from human interaction and any form of communication. However, their dedication for tawba was so great that they stayed back and was dedicaded to seek Allah (swt)'s forgiveness. Not a single person would talk to them or smile at them. Subhanallah!

They were ordered not to approach their wife during this period. To this Kaab ibn Malik asked rasulallah(saw) whether he should divorce his wife. Look at their sincerety! They were ready to do anything for the sake of Allah (swt) – that’s how much taqwa these people had. They realized that they have made a mistake and they were willing to do anything to earn back the pleasure of Allah (swt) and His Rasul. This shows the level of obedience they had – they were ready to do anything. Rasulallah (saw) said – no need to divorce just stay away from your wife and don't be intimate. So, he sent away his wife and asked him not to come back till this matter was settled.
Eventually the verse was revealed and the matter was settled.

Reflection:

How intense is our love for Allah (swt) and His rasul? Are we working on increasing it? We humans have this love inside of us which is very normal and natural. This energy of love when put in improper place and not used in the right way can be very dangerous and bring consequenses which are displeasing to Allah (swt). This love should be channeled only to love Allah (swt) and to each and every way that Allah (swt) chooses for us. It’s an innate nature of every human being to have that energy of love. The sahabas used it in the right place - what are we doing with that intense high energy of love? What did the people before that do? How is it being used these days? Where is that emotion being directed?

o During the jahiliya period, people used that love worshipping idols.

oThese days people are directing this love to either loving power, women, status, position etc.

§ Thus that’s how the love for Allah (swt) and rasulallah (saw) is being misused. There’s no virtue! And this leads the person to be in illusion and replace such high energy in destructive emotions which are not normal. But in the absence of normality – we start viewing abnormal as normal and we end up adopting and borrowing practices that are not part of this deen. The root of all this – lack of knowledge. And even if we have knowledge sometimes we are too arrogant to obey Allah (swt) as we see admitting our fault and shortcoming as something inferior and a matter that losses our dignity.

That’s why the love for this deen includes love for Allah and rasulallah (saw) and the love of the sahabas were unimaginable. May Allah (swt) help us love Him and His last prophet (saw) as did the sahabas. Ameen

~~~
From Imam Djaffar's Halaqa

The change brought by Islam

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

During Jahaliya, the Arabs were very arrogant about their lineage and they were very boastful about it. Their respect for people would depend on that person's family background. So, Rasulallah (saw) said: you are from Adam because Adam is from dust and some of you should stop being so proud of your forefathers for something so foolish (being proud of their ancestory and family lineage) otherwise Allah will make you so little (humiliated much less than the insects.)

In front of Allah (swt), there are two types of people:
- Righteous (muttaquin)
- Disobedient: insignificant due to their disobedience to Allah (swt).
There’s no third type. So it’s your choice – you want to obey and seek towards being in first group or be in the second group who disobeys Allah (swt) publicly.
Umar (RA) used to say: we are so humiliated and then Allah (swt0 gave us izza (dignity) through islam. Anywhere else but islam, Allah will give us himulity.

The Arabs were the greatest of the poets and the used poetries in all occasions and also they had poetries for each categories such as for love, description of something/place, people, praising someone, hating someone etc. Al-Fakr (pride) was a huge thing and these poetries used to be taught to kids and that’s how they used to learn about their ancestors and that they are the descendants of so and so tribe. There were poetries for each category: - for love - description of beauty - to praise the kings - to insult other tribes/people - nature - people and so on ...

During Jahliya, the poets of each tribe used to represent their media/spokesperson. They used to fight using their skills of poetries. So, when a tribe would get a poet, people would feel very proud as it would strengthen their power in the society with a better spokesperson.

Banu Anfinnaka (which literally means the descendants of the nose of the camels): During Jahiliya there was a tribe called Banu Anfinnaka and people from this tribe used to feel very bad disclosing their identities. One poet from that tribe came and wrote a poetry saying, ‘they are the nose and the rest are the tail.’ So, after that they became very proud and used to say that ‘min anfinnaha’ – meaning I’m from the tribe of such and such. So, for the Arabs poetries meant a lot and for them the poetries were strong. [“The Sun of God, shinning from the west”, German orientalist female author. Who wrote about the contribution of Muslims in western civilization.]

And this is what Rasulallah (saw) came to correct! He (saw) was changing that attitude and trying to teach people that they should be proud of something good but not of their ancestry to the extent that it makes you arrogant and ignorant, as that’s jahiliya. How did he change that? By replacing it and by trying to teach the people that the tribes do not belong to any other tribe – but we all belong to Allah (swt).

The story of Abu Dharr-Al Ghifari :
Once Abu Dharr (RA) and Bilal (RA) got into a fight and Abu Dharr was so angry that he said to Bilal (RA), ‘ya ibn sauda’ – O you the son of Black woman. Bilal (RA) was very upset hearing this and he was extremely hurt. However, he did not respond and reported this to rasulallah (saw). When rasulallah (saw) heard of this, he said, ‘Look at Abu Dharr! You are a person who is still carrying some of the baggage of jahiliya in him and it didn’t completely go away.’ Abu Dharr (RA) collapsed hearing these words and realized what his anger did and turned him into. So, he (RA) went to Bilal (RA) and put his head down on the ground and asked Bilal (RA) to put his foot on his head so he may overcome that jahiliya and may never forget this. Of-course Bilal (RA) didn’t do that.

The success of rasulallah (saw) was not just changing some individuals; but using the potentials of each individual and working in a collective form. That takes patience and true dedication for the sake of Allah (swt). Every one of us are responsible and everyone is responsible for himself. When we see something wrong, we are responsible to correct that. If we cannot correct that - the least we can do is dislike that wrong from our heart. The orphans, the poor etc. – the rest of the peopl in the society are responsible for these underprivileged; and mostly the rich are in great responsibility when it comes to taking care or ensuring the needs of these people. The rulings of zakaah makes the rich of the nation responsible for the poor. If there are orphans’ not being taken care of – it’s the responsibility of the people who are capable of supporting them - and they would be the ones answerable on the Day of Judgment.

Story of DHULM :
It’s been a concept during the time of Jahiliya, “Give support to your brother whether he is wrong or being wronged” – this was the concept of Jahaliya and once the sahabas accepted Islam their mind set changed. So, one of the sahabas asked – fine we can assist our brother when he is being wronged, but how can we assist him when he wrongs others? “ You support him by stopping him from commiting the dhulm” – was the response of rasulallah (saw). This is how the same concepts of jahaliya were used but explained effectively and given new dimension with the teaching of Islam.
~~~~
From Imam Djaffar's halaqa
Continued in the next entry...

Reflection on DEATH

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

“I spent daily for years nights and days just thinking of death” – Shaykh Abdul Kadir Jilani.
Inspite of his daily faraids and sunnah acts – this used to be a part of his spiritual diet. He then said, I used to ask Allah (swt) that nothing and no one takes my soul except Allah (swt). This was the state he was in – always in a state of DhikrAllah. This is the level of muraqqabah he had and he used to think of it until he would fall asleep. We can’t even focus for 5 minutes in a class. If you turn your eyes, you turn your heart and if that happens you are lost.

Shaikh Abdul Kadir Jilani said, one day in between his sleep and wakefulness he saw an old man all in white approaching him through his door. He asked, who are you? The man replied I’m the angel of death. He said, but I have been asking Allah (swt) that my soul is not to be taken by anyone but Him then why are you here? The angel said – ya Abdul Kadir, I’m nothing but a servant of Alllah (swt) – saying this they both started crying and hugged. When he woke up he found himself sobbing from his dream. At one point he told his family leave me all of you – I have company with me.

So, part of developing your muraqqabah is to think of death. Some righteous people even dug their own graves and used to go to sit in there morning and evening as part of their reflection. That’s the level a person is in when they have reached nearness to Allah (swt).They are looking forward to meet Him azza wa ‘jal. And that’s the level we all should be in.

Reflection:
So, how much do we actually consider thinking of Death? Are we preparing ourselves enough to face Allah (swt)? Are we going to be able to stand in front of Him and face Him? Are we in that state?? What if the angel of death comes to me even before i finish this line? Am i looking forward and longing to meet my beloved - Allah azza wa jal? If we do not want to think about death we need to ask ourselves "why". There could be one and only one valid reason - we love this dunya - there's nothing wrong with that - however, that love should not be so intense that it makes us hate the hereafter. If we are not looking forward to face our Lord - the reason could be we have invested much in this dunya to let it go. We have invested in this dunya and are reaping the benefit of it - and we have neglected to make any investment for akhira. So, if we had invested or started working on our hereafter we would not be afraid of the next life. we would actually be waiting and seeking to be in His presence. Can you imagine being in front of Him (swt) Who is not the investor of just a bulb or such and such idea - but Who is the creator and inventor of all that exists in the whole universe? Are we even worth standing in front of His manifestation? The One who has been fulfilling all our needs and providing us - we are going to meet Him - we all should be excited right? Don't we look forward to meet someone who does good to us? What about meeting Allah (swt)? Are we anticipating our meeting Him azza wa jal?

We seek comfort and if we know that our next life does not ensure much of that - we wouldn't we be so attached to that life, inspite of knowing that our final and permanent abode is the hereafter. Let's commit ourselves to invest atleast one penny to the next life if we can invest the equal amount to this world. May Allah (swt) make our final abode a better one than we deserve and may He (swt) replace our worng actions into good one so we have a good end. Ameen.
~~~~
Contents from Shaykh Mokhtar's halaqa

Our attraction to the fire

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Istegfar is very necessary in our every day life and we need to make our qalb, mind, and our tongue accustomed to it. For people who commit sin and do not repent and run away – it’s for those that punishments have been reserved.

If you are in the countryside or in a hilly area or even in a wooded area when we light up the lamp outside or even lit fire to get light, insects are attracted to the source of that light. Have you ever thought of what attract insects and moths to the lights and fire? Why do the insects go to that source of light? One simple way to put it is, there are some lights which the insects cannot distinguish to be harmful from those that are beneficial and thus thinking that all are beneficial they run towards that.

Imam Ghazali explains this fact in the following way: those types of moth and insects, they have very weak vision (they see in a very cloudy and blurred way). So, when they are in the dark at night and if there is light, what actually goes on in their recognition is that light is an exit from their world of darkness. They perceive that light/fire as a source or window to the day and thus they run to get to the light (thinking that they are) leaving the dark and the moment they jump into it – they die. They perceive and think their current condition to be a state of darkness and take that light as something for better and keep falling into it.
This is like the human being that are following the shahawa – to fulfill their desires for sexual appetite, excess food, luxury, entertainment – and they are seeking to satisfy their lower self - they seek comfort in these matters. Human beings’ vision is very weak and when they see their surroundings, they take their current situation to be dark and runs to that light (thinking that there’s goodness towards that and there’s better living and satisfaction). Perceive that as the light and they go for it and burns out completely not only physically but with their physical body they also burn out spiritually. Moved by the fire/light of shahawa, we humans, run so fast only to face spiritual death.

Rasulallah (saw) said, "I (that is, the mission of His prophethood) am holding you back from your hujaz (belts) against going into the fire of hell and you are giving yourself up and you are going and cheerfully throwing yourself into it again and again and again, just like the insects jump into fire."

So, we human beings following our desires to go to that light, fire and heat that we perceive, which is being attracted by our shahawa – for some that strength is so strong that the saving call of Rasulallah (saw) cannot take us back and we end up burning badly physically and spiritually in this world and we loose our quloob.

Whatever Rasulallah (saw) saw, he saw Allah (swt) before everything. So, the abd’ of Allah (swt) who seeks to reach the level of salvation, truly seeks through his (saw)’s example. With our limited & bare vision, we are too naïve to distinguish good from evil. We run towards the fire not realizing it is the fire – only to seek comfort from that source, and only to gain some comfort in this dunya forgetting all about our akhira. We only see the phenomena, the physical aspect of the phenomena and that’s where our vision ends.
Therefore, we should seek refuge from Allah (swt) to help us and to protect us from the continuous shahawa. And so we need to take time off from this mechanic life of everyday routine – we need to take time off for retreat. Breaking the habit is an essential tool to help us to release ourselves from the shahawa. The state of mind to break the routine is very difficult and that’s why Allah (swt) gave us five daily salaah – so that we are able to break from our habit to overcome the nafs. The nafs likes the habit of being engaed in this dunya and likes to stay away from remembrance of Allah (swt) and that’s why we need to train the nafs and have it get used to breaking the habit. Initially it is going to be hard but once you have controlled your nafs and got it influenced that’s when you have overcome your lower self.

Develop the dynamic conciousness of breaking the habit so that we are in constant remembrance of Allah (swt). All the habits are actually keeping us away from our original task that we were created for – for udoobiya of Allah (swt), worship Allah (swt) alone. Training ourselves to restrain the hardship of emotions or of physical e.g. hunger etc. is not an easy task. The hardest part is the initial stage – when we get started to develop the strength to break the habit. Once we are able to break from our usual habit – that is when we have strengthened our quloob over our nafs.
In order to develop strength we need to work hard – be it physical, emotional or even spiritual. For example, a person who works in the field and are capable of working in the field in high heat under the sun has the resistance and strength to do so because he has trained much. Initially he was not able to work long hours – but over time he has grown that habit and achieved the resistance. So, the hardship level comes – during the initial level. Similarly, when you are seeking nearness to Allah (swt) through your acts and deeds – it will not be easy initially.

In order to carry the loads, that is, if we make ourselves used to this type of mujahada, we can strengthen ourselves and be strong in times of hardships and face the situation with sab'r and du'a to Allah (swt). When we wait with sab'r and put our total reliance on Allah (swt) – that is carrying the loads and training the nafs. On the other hand, when you are in a rush to get everything done and to find an answer within our limited realm and when we get too agitated and do not try to find answer with patience – that is when we refuse to carry the load.

Two concept of habit: negative and positive. Habits that prevent us from remembrance of Allah (swt) and habits that prevent our attachments to Allah (swt) is something to be broken. If ibada has become a habit – it is something positive. However, we have to be careful that if we are in a habit of attending salaah or halaqa without the presence of our quloob – we need to break that habit and we need to work on our niyaa. We need to get rid of the lack of awareness and bring our habit to strengthening our mind and heart.
----
From Shaykh Mokhtar's halaqa.

Asking Allah (swt)...

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Once a sahaba was asked, "Which one is better, to continue to be in du'a without being given or after we gain it?" He rahimahullah replied, " the former. Imagine that you are a begger. You go to a door of a kind person. He opens the door and gives you. Are you going to leave or stay there? Which one is better? "

So, in the same way what would you consider to be better? Asking Allah (swt) and be in constant remembrance of Allah (swt) or be granted of your wish which He grants and gives you just to shut you up? What if He gives it to you becasue He doesn't like to hear you calling Him and supplicating to Him? Du'a indeed implies presence at the gate of Allah (swt). I was reading it the other day, that, sometimes, when Allah (swt) loves His servant, He (swt) deliberately will not fulfill his du'a, so that the 'abd keeps making du'a to Him for He loves to hear it. Subhanallah! Can you imagine the greatness of our Lord? We humans on the otherhand are so opposite. We get mad or loose our patience when someone asks something repeatedly and we get to that stage where we start calling that person a whinner or try to avoid that person. Subhanallah! No wonder we are humans and we are in need of Him azza wa jal. May we be worthy of glorifying His manifestation.

Allah says, " O Jibreel, delay his wish for I love to hear his lamentation to me. O Jibreel, grant my 'abd his request for I hate to hear his du'a upon me." I don't know the source to this but after reading it i thought this is such a beautiful and powerful narration since one of the most wonderful virtures it teaches us and can help us all strive for is to stay away from despair. In Islam, despair is forbidden ( may be in all the religions since patience is a great virture).
One of the scholars in the prologue of Ibn Qaiyyim's abridged translation of " Uddat as-sabirin wa dhakhirat ash-shakirin" mentions:
Patience, or patient perseverance, is obligatory, according to the consensus of the scholars, and it is half of faith (iman), the other half of which is gratitude (shukr). Patience is mentioned in the Qur'an around ninety times. The relation of patience to iman is like the relation of the head to the body, and the one who has no patience has no iman. ...

It further mentions: ... Allah has told us that He is with those who have patience; this is a special "companionship" (ma'iyyah) which means that He is protecting and supporting them, which is over and above the ordinary "companionship" which applies to believers and disbelievers alike whereby Allah has knowledge of them and is watching over them. Allah has told us:
"... And be patient and persevering: for Allah is with those who patiently persevere." (al-Anfal 8:47) ---- Subhanallah! Doesn't these explanations just keep us awestruck and bring such tranquility in the heart...

May be a lot of us can relate to incidents where our ibadas increased or remembrance of Allah (swt) sky rockted because we were looking to achieve a specific goal be it for - facing a job interview, finding the grades from finals, or even convincing parents, friends into doing something - and when it would be granted we would get back to our routine and even forget to show gratitude to Him azza wa 'jal. We do not even know how to worship Him properly - we are so into our own world! DUNYA! Oh Son of Adam - when will you ever realize?!

On the other hand, when our du'a is not being answered by Him or it's taking longer, with our human mind, we need to think over and over again and we need to convince ourselves that indeed i'm one of the servants He loves to hear from repeatedly. Indeed, He is watching me and indeed something better is awaiting if this is not granted. We need not give up on our du'as and our attitude should rather be : "I love to ask Him again & again," instead of giving up on our hope and du'a - thinking that He is not listening. How can He(swt) be not listening? He's the all Hearing (as-Sami') - we should not compare Allah azza wa jal with out limited human characteristics. Or may be what you are asking for isn't really good for you. Do we ever think of that? when we delight our eyes and mind on something we like it so much that we tend to close one of our eyes and forget to see all the effects it can have on us once we actually get it. He (swt) on the otherhand, is the All Seeing(al-Bashir) - the All Knowing (al-'Alim). How can we compare ourselves, our thoughts, our logics to the will of Allah (swt) - Who does everything for a much higher and far better wisdom than we can comprehend.

May He (swt) make us worthy of worshipping Him, and may we be worthy of His Mercy and His Forgiveness. May He (swt) see us as those servants who He loves to hear from and may we be worthy of Glorifying Him. Ameen!

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Some beautiful quotes from the best of the generations ...

What can my enemies do to me?
My paradise is at my heart, it is with me wherever I go.
To imprison me is to provide me with seclusion.
To send me to exile is to send me away in the Path of Allah.
And to kill me is to make me a martyr. – Ibn Taymeeyah

Subhanallah! This was the level of taqwa and iman these people had - each and every state they go through and could possibly think of to be in the near future was in relation to their station with Allah (swt). Today when we don't find anything to do, instead of making use of that time in remembrance of Allah (swt) or to read beneficial materials we rather engage ourselves in matters which benefits us neither in this world not would it help in the hereafter. We use the term "we are bored" - do we have enough time to be bored or to waste our limited 24 hours a day?

Knowledge is a confronting friend in times of loneliness, it is the best companions during the times of travel, and it is the inner friend who speaks to you in your privacy. Knowledge is the discerning proof of what is right and what is wrong, and it is positive force that will surmount you the trials of comfort, as well as those of hardships. Knowledge is your most powerful sword against your enemy, and finally it is your most dignifying raiment in the company of your close companions. – Mu’adh ibn Jabal (RA)

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