Reformation of the Self

“ O you who believe, stand out firmly for justice as witnesses to God, even against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it concerns, rich or poor, for God can best protect both.”_Quran 4:135 As Muslims, we should try our best to treat people fairly because we don’t know the true position of anyone before Allah SWT.  Those whom we hold in high esteem are not necessarily so in the sight of God, and those whom we may be tempted to ignore could be the special ones before the Almighty. A historical case in point happened when the Prophet (SAW) addressed the chieftains of Makkah with the hope and strong desire for them to accept Islam.  While in their midst, a blind man, Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum (RA) came up to him and said: “O messenger of God, teach me from what God has taught you.” However, the Prophet (SAW) didn’t attend to him because he (SAW) was focused at the moment on the prestigious group of Quraish leaders.  Apparently...

“He is Allah, there is no god but He! All praise is due to Him in this (life) and the hereafter, and His is the judgement and to Him you shall be brought back.”_Q28:70 Out of our Islamic history, I am narrating a single but powerful anecdote that illustrates a remarkable story of true faithfulness to others in relation to the fulfillment of our trust. It goes as follows: Abdullah ibn Sinaan relates that he spoke to a leading scholar of the town, in person of Sheikh Sadiq (RA), one of the grandchildren of Sayyidina Ali (RA). He said to the scholar: Some of the governors and rulers consider us to be trustworthy and thus placed their wealth with us, but at the same time, they do not pay their dues to us. He then asked the scholar: “Do we return their money to them or do we keep it for our use?” But the Sheikh replied, not once, not twice but thrice, exclaiming thus: “By the Lord of the Ka’abah! Even if Ibn Muljam, the murderer of my father Ali (...

“(It is) a Book We have revealed to you abounding in good that they you may ponder over its verses and that those endowed with understanding may be mindful.”_Quran 38:29 Ilyas (Elisha) is one of the Prophets of Allah SWT. It was written that he was the cousin of Elijah. He was said to have hidden with Elijah in a cave in Mount Qasium to escape from the King of Ba’alabak. And when Elijah died, Ilyas succeeded him as a prophet among his people. According to Al-Hafiz Abu Al-Qasim Ibn Asaker, Elisha was the son of Adi, the son of Shultam, the son of Aphraem, the son of Joseph, the son of Isaac, and the son of Abraham.  Allah revealed his story to our dear Prophet Muhammad in the Quran, chapter 38 verses 45-48 as follows: “And remember Our slaves , Abraham, Ishaaq, and Yaqoub, (all) owners of strength (in worshipping Us) and (also) of religious understanding.  Verily, We did choose them by granting them (a good thing) the remembrance of the h...