Friday Nasiha

Living The Quran

Strong Bond
Al Hashr (The Gathering) - Chapter 59: Verse 10

"Those who come after them pray: 'Our Lord! Forgive us and forgive our brethren who preceded us in faith. Leave no malice in our hearts towards those who believe. Lord, You are compassionate, ever merciful."

The true nature and wonder of the Muslim community is clearly depicted in these verses. We recognize the strong bond that unites all generations of believers generating feelings of love and compassion between them, as well as feeling of closeness that transcends time, place, race and family. It is a bond that takes precedence over all else, stirring pleasant feelings across generations. A believer remembers another who lived many centuries earlier, just like he remembers one who lives next door, and warms to him with love and honour. The present generation of believers takes into account the needs of future generations, and the ones still to come will follow the footsteps of their predecessors. They all constitute one rank, in the same brigade, across generations, despite belonging to countries and times that may be very wide apart. They all march steadily, under God's banner, trying to achieve the high standards expected of them, looking up to their Lord, the Compassionate, the Ever Merciful.

It is a wonderful, amazing picture, yet it represents a reality as well as the best ideal cherished by noble hearts. The beauty and nobility of this picture of humanity can be best appreciated when compared to the grudges we see against social classes, past generations of humanity, and against religion and believers of all faiths and communities.

The two situations are wide apart: they share no feature, colour or shade. One of them elevates humanity to the highest standards it can achieve, and the other takes it down to its lowest possible level. The first represents generations of humanity transcending barriers of time, place, race, country, tribe and family and promoting a bond of love and compassion, with pure hearts that are free of all grudges or selfishness, seeking only God's pleasure. The other shows humanity in conflict, with people always in strife, harbouring wicked feelings towards each other and resorting to deception, cheating and evil.

Compiled From:
"In the Shade of the Quran" - Sayyid Qutb, Vol 16, pp. 435,436

From Issue: 635 [Read original issue]

Understanding The Prophet's Life

Haya of Allah

If a person has a complete haya of Allah, he would not think of or perform any act that is displeasing to Allah. He would be too ashamed of ever doing something of that nature. In fact, he should have more haya toward Allah than toward any of the creation. This is because everything he possesses has come to him as a blessing from Allah and He knows that Allah is aware of everything he does.

The Prophet, peace be upon him, has ordered Muslims to have the proper haya towards Allah. He said:

"Have haya towards Allah in the correct manner of haya." The Companions said, "O Messenger of Allah, we are bashful towards Allah, and to Allah is the praise." The Prophet then told them, "This is not what is meant. The haya towards Allah which is the true haya is for a person to be mindful of his head and what it contains, and of his stomach and the [bodily parts] close to it, and to remember death and disintegration. And whoever desires the Hereafter abandons the beautification of this world. The one who does that has had haya toward Allah in the proper manner of haya." [Tirmidhi, Ahmad]

Compiled From:
"Commentary on the Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi" - Jamaal al-Din Zarabozo, pp. 814, 815

From Issue: 747 [Read original issue]

Blindspot!

Intangibles

The depression brought the world to the very borderline of understanding of the forces which are intangible and unseen. Through the ages which have passed, man has depended too much upon his physical senses, and has limited his knowledge to physical things, which he could see, touch, weigh, and measure.

We are now entering the most marvellous of all ages—an age which will teach us something of the intangible forces of the world about us. Perhaps we shall learn, as we pass through this age, that the “other self” is more powerful than the physical self we see when we look into a mirror.

Sometimes men speak lightly of the intangibles— the things which they cannot perceive through any of their five senses, and when we hear them, it should remind us that all of us are controlled by forces which are unseen and intangible.

The whole of mankind has not the power to cope with, nor to control the intangible force wrapped up in the rolling waves of the oceans. Man has not the capacity to understand the intangible force of gravity, which keeps this little earth suspended in midair, and keeps man from falling from it, much less the power to control that force. Man is entirely subservient to the intangible force which comes with a thunderstorm, and he is just as helpless in the presence of the intangible force of electricity— nay, he does not even know what electricity is, where it comes from, or what is its purpose!

Nor is this by any means the end of man’s ignorance in connection with things unseen and intangible. He does not understand the intangible force (and intelligence) wrapped up in the soil of the earth—the force which provides him with every morsel of food he eats, every article of clothing he wears, every dollar he carries in his pockets.

Compiled From:
"Think & Grow Rich" - Napoleon Hill, pp. 212, 213

From Issue: 788 [Read original issue]