Reformation of the Self

“Surely Allah {SWT} enjoins justice, kindness and doing of good to kith and kin, and forbids all that is shameful, evil and oppressive. He exhorts you so that you may be mindful.” Suratul Nahl Q 16: 10 “He who is pleased to have good living, and to be well remembered after his death, let him have good relations with his blood relatives.” {Al-Bukhari and Muslim} “Be kind to your parents, your children will be kind to you.” {At-Tabaraani} May Allah {SWT} guide us right. Aameen

“He will indeed be successful who purifies it.” {Q91:9} The Messenger of Allah {SWT} gave us the description of different kinds of hearts, let’s study them and examine our selves accordingly: “Hearts are four kinds: a good, clear heart, like a shinning lamp, blossoming;   and a heart locked and sealed; and a heart upside down; and a heart mixed. The heart of the believer shines with light; and the sealed heart is the heart of kafir, and the upside down heart is the heart of the munafiq, he knew, then denies. And the mixed heart is a heart with iman and nifaq in it, like the green herbs grown with good water {deeds} and the example of nifaq is the ulcer grown with pus and blood and the one that grows more will overcome the other.”{Ahmad} Since only Allah {SWT} will eventually decide who a true believer is among us, the subtle message of this hadith is that we must continue to strive for purity until the day we die. May Allah {SWT} help us succeed. ...

“Once someone said: By Allah! Allah {SWT} will not forgive such and such.” Thereupon Allah, the Exalted and the Glorious said: “Who is he who takes an oath in My Name that I will not grant pardon to so-and-so? I have granted pardon to so and so and rendered your good deeds fruitless.” {Muslim} Usman ibn e Maz’oon was an immigrant from Mecca. He was living in the house of a Medinite, Ansar. He was treated hospitably as a member of the family, as that was the basic principle of the fraternal relations created by Holy Prophet {SAW} on immigration.  He fell ill. Umme Ala Ansari, the woman of the house, was a pious Muslim. She nursed Usman with care, but his condition worsened and he died. When the funeral was ready, the Holy Prophet {SAW} and Umme Ala pointed towards Usman’s funeral and said, “O Usman, may Allah’s blessings descend upon you . I testify that Allah {SWT} has granted you entrance into the realm of blessings .” When the Holy Prophet {SAW} heard the...

“Hasten in the giving of alms because tragedy cannot overcome it.”—At-Tabaraani Once, imam Sadiq {RA} related a wonderful story with regard to the power of charity, read on: There was a piece of land that I owned in partnership with an astrologer and it was mutually decided that it should be divided between us.  He made preparations so that his arrival should be in an auspicious hour of fortune while I should arrive in an inauspicious hour of misfortune so that the better portion of the land fell in his hands. The land was divided but it so happened that the better portion came as my share of the land! The man slapped his right hand over his left in regret and said ruefully: Oh! I wish I had never lived to see such a day.” I said to him: “Why are you so upset today? He said: “I am an astrologer and I brought you out of your house in an inauspicious hour of misfortune while I myself came out in an auspicious hour of fortune. However, now that the land ...

“If Allah {SWT} loves some people He tests them with calamities, he who accepts earns Allah’s pleasure, and he who objects earns Allah’s rage.”—At-Tirmidhi Jabir Ibn Abdullah {RA}, who had been of the companions of the Noble Prophet {SAW} had remained alive till the time of imam Baqir {RA} but had become old and blind by then. Once, when he had arrived in the presence of Al-Baqir, he inquired from Jabir Ibn Abdullah {RA} after his health, whereupon he said: “I find myself in a state such that I give preference to old age over youth, to sickness over soundness of health and to death over life!” Al-Baqir responded by saying:  “(On the contrary) If Allah {SWT} makes me old, I prefer old age; if He desires to give me youth, I prefer youth; if He afflicts me with sickness, I desire sickness, and if He desires to favour me with sound health, I prefer soundness of health. If Allah {SWT} wishes to give me death, I prefer death, and if He wills to keep me alive, I...