Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Of Patience

For those who do good in this world there is good, and Allah's earth is spacious. Verily the steadfast will be paid their wages without stint.  Surah (# 39) Az-Zumar (Verse 10)

Monday, September 24, 2012

There is still some hope left......

While there were people who chose to display their anger through acts of violence. Who took advantage of a day off to show how really stupid they can be. Going on with setting fire to cars, cinema halls etc.; in the end putting a dent in their own economy. There were also some people who took the responsibility of cleaning up after their fellow country men. However ashamed they might have been of being called brothers or fellows to these people who do not even deserve to be called human beings, they still considered it their duty to try and abate the damage incurred by sheer stupidity.

Just the other day, while discussing the state of affairs with a colleague, the air was one of deep despair, the feeling  was the one where you know that nothing can be done to improve conditions, the one where you lose all hope and decide to leave things as they are.

Watching the news of young people going about in clans picking up litter and making an attempt to clean up the mess left by others, the first thought to come to mind was;
there are still good people, there is still some hope....


The problem we suffer from is that we lose hope just too easily. We do not bother to move and do something to change the situation to our own liking, instead we just sit and play the blame game. At least there were some people, who instead of writing useless articles and venting out all anger in the form of words, like I did, decided to do something about it. This act may somewhere make a better impression of Pakistanis and Muslims. Their act may win hearts or may embarrass a few who may think twice the next time they plan to participate in riots.

At least, these people are the ones who can proudly say;
"We did something!"

Their act may have done little good after the boundless destruction, but the effect can be massive, if we just allow it to be.

Hats off to all the people who were involved in this act which can never be small. :)

Friday, September 21, 2012

Praising Allah

On the authority of Abu Harayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (PBUH), who said:
Allah (glorified and exalted be He) has supernumerary angels who rove about seeking out gatherings in which Allah's name is being invoked: they sit with them and fold their wings round each other, fillin that which is between them and between the lowest heaven. When [the people in the gathering] depart, [the angels] ascend and rise up to heaven. He (the Prophet p.b.u.h.) said: Then Allah (mighty and sublime be He) asks them - [though] He is most knowing about them: From where have you come? And they say: We have come from some servants of Yours on Earth: they were glorifying You (Subhana llah), exalting you (Allahu akbar), witnessing that there is no god but You (La ilaha illa llah), praising You (Al-Hamdu lillah), and asking [favours] of You. He says: And what do they ask of Me? They say: They ask of You Your Paradise. He says: And have they seen My Paradise? They say: No, O Lord. He says: And how would it be were they to have seen My Paradise! They say: And they ask protection of You. He says: From what do they ask protection of Me? They say: From Your Hell-fire, O Lord. He says: And have they seen My Hell-fire? They say: NO. He says: And how would it be were they to have seen My Hell-fire: They say: And they ask for Your forgiveness. He (the Prophet p.b.u.h) said: Then He says: I have forgiven them and I have bestowed upon them what they have asked for,and I have granted them sanctuary from that from which they asked protection. He (the Prophet p.b.u.h) said: They say: O Lord, among then is So-and-so, a much sinning servant, who was merely passing by and sat down with them. He (the Prophet p.b.u.h) said: And He says: And to him [too] I have given forgiveness: he who sits with such people shall not suffer.
It was related by Muslim (also by al-Bukhari, at-Tirmidhi, and an-Nasa'i). 


Only praising Allah in a gathering can earn you forgiveness. And even a person who has been called a "much sinning servant" just sits down in such a gathering will be forgiven.
This shows how simple Islam is.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Hadis Qudsi: Generosity and Forgiving

On the authority of Abu Mas'ud al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
A man from among those who were before you was called to account. Nothing in the way of good was found for him except that he used to have dealings with people and, being well-to-do, he would order his servants to let off the man in straitened circumstances [from repaying his debt]. He (the Prophet p.b.u.h) said that Allah said: We are worthier than you of that (of being so generous). Let him off.
It was related by Muslim (also by al-Bukhari and an-Nasa'i). 

Allah is the most merciful, the most forgiving. He asks Muslims to be as forgiving as they expect Allah to forgive them for their sins. And whoever tries to inculcate the habit of forgiving and generosity in themselves are rewarded beyond imagination. 

Hadith Qudsi: Charity

On the authority of Abu Harayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (PBUH), who said: Allah (mighty and sublime be He) said: 

Spend (on charity), O son of Adam, and I shall spend on you. 

It was related by al-Bukhari (also by Muslim). 


This shows that Islam gives a lot of emphasis on charity. Charity is a part of the religion of peace, Islam. 

So do as much charity as you can. And even smiling is considered a part of charity as a smile to someone who needs it may do more good for him than a million rupees may not. :)

A day to celebrate a lifetime

Of all the things we could have done in order to show our distaste towards the blasphemous activities, we chose to observe a day to show our respect to Hazrat Mohammad PBUH. Please note that this one day and one day alone is supposed to show our love and respect to our Last Prophet PBUH. Moreover, we plan to do that by NOT working on that day. Which is supposed to send out exactly what message to the world, I fail to understand. 

Is the mission to get the world laughing at the follies of Pakistan and Muslims in general? Or is it to waste yet another day doing nothing, putting a dent in an already suffering economy? Or is it to show that our religion, Islam, preaches it's followers to stay away from work as much as possible? Or is it something much more brilliant than my feeble mind can grasp?


If the mission is one or all of the above, then guess what, the government or whoever it was to come up with the idea, has succeeded.

For one day, all offices, educational institutions, shops etc will be closed down. Please don't for a minute think that this one day will be spent in prayers, reading up on Islam, or somehow spreading the word of Islam. This one day will be spent.. well.. sleeping.. at least that is what I plan to do.


Or this day can be spent burning a few more tires, tainting our very own property (yes the property of my fellow country men is my own property,  not in the sense that I can use it when I want to but in the sense that I am supposed to take care of it like I take care of mine).

Our religion, Islam, was not spread through violence. Our last Prophet Mohammad PBUH never wished for anyone's harm, Muslims or non Muslims. He PBUH and his followers were subjected to a lot of  torment, yet, they did not stop from following or preaching Islam, neither did they harm anyone, not because they were not capable of doing it, but for the only reason that Islam is a religion of peace.

So, what do you do when someone says something really wrong for a person you respect, for a person you are to follow, what do you do in such a situation? 

I am no religious scholar, I admit that my knowledge regarding my own religion is minimal. Yet I have my own ideas of what could have been done, which to me seem more effective.

If someone makes a movie to insult you, you do not try to get back on them by not working for one day. What you do is tell people how good your religion is, how honorable the personality of Hazrat Mohammad PBUH is. You spread the knowledge so much so that even if the movie is released no one goes to watch it. Neither Muslims nor non Muslims. 

If you sit quietly and not do anything, or you choose to introduce a day by the name of "Youm-e-Ishq-e-Rasool (PBUH)", or you ban you tube for 3 days, or you start watching trailers of the movie just to know exactly how they are insulting, you can't expect to gain anything.

The mission is not to stop this movie, but to stop every such acts from cropping up in the future. Prudent is what we need to be, in contrast to stupid, what we are being at the moment.


If this movie is not released, some other movie will be released, and the cycle will continue.


If we can stop this movie from getting released, then well and good. But would it guarantee that no other blasphemous acts will procure?


It's a movie now, it can be followed by books, complete tv series, and what not?

The path is predictable isn't it? They started with caricature and followed with a movie. What's next?

Are we really willing to allow them to do whatever they want to do, and just when they are about to do it, rise in an uproar, bring about the slightest of damage and settle down and go back to sleep again?

Is this the road we plan to walk on?

It seems that way to me.

A friend informed me yesterday that Muslims have been distributing books on life of Prophet Mohammad PBUH free of cost in stores in London. Many may not read that book, but maybe one out of 10 will and wouldn't that be better than the impression they must be getting of Muslims seeing what was going on yesterday in a country that was fought for on the name of Islam.

The problem is, we ourselves even don't know as much about Islam as we should. The result: we can't fight anyone, we can't debate.You can't defend something you don't know a thing about.

So the first step to take is to increase our own knowledge of Islam. To try and be better Muslims. And then proceed with spreading that knowledge in a way that makes it attractive rather than repelling. For instance, you don't explain the concept of Jahannum before you give them a preview of Jannat. You don't define sin  before you list down the rewards. 

What we normally do is tell people that if they do this and that they'll suffer in Jahannum. What we forget to mention is how easy and simple it is to earn Jannat. How the teachings of Islam are right in line with what they call Ethics these days.


We have established our religion as a difficult one. While on the other hand, it's quite simple if you think about it. 


As far as observing a day for Prophet Mohammad PBUH goes. I have nothing against it. But why on earth does this day need to be a holiday? What about all the people who earn on a day to day basis. What will they do tomorrow? Are we not already in a miserable state, do we really feel such a need to worsen it with our own hands?

And more to the point, there cannot be just one day to show your respect for your Prophet Mohammad PBUH.This is what we should do day in and day out. In everything we do, we are to follow Prophet Mohammad PBUH. 

Why not use this occasion to wake ourselves from the deep slumber we have been in for ages?
Why not go ahead with increasing our knowledge of Islam, and then working upon that knowledge?
Why not try to incorporate one sunnat at a time in our daily lives?
Why not start tomorrow?
Why not start today?
Why not start right now?