Reformation of the Self

  “The similitude of someone who remembers his Lord and someone who does not is like that of the living and the dead.” Al-Bukhari   Apart from the fundamental concept and practices of Islam like Taoheed, Salat, Zakat, Ramadhan, Hajj amongst others, the supererogatory acts worship that we can do are simply unlimited. There so many things to do that no one can really do them all, in a consistent manner. So in this case, the wise choice will be to decide on the ones that we can sustain in the long run. And to make good choices, we have to study what our dear Prophet (SAW) said regarding this issue. It happened that one of the Prophet’s companions also felt the same challenge, so he asked the Prophet (SAW) how to deal with it. As narrated by Abdullah ibn Busr (RA), the companion came to the Prophet (SAW) and said: “O Messenger of Allah. I am overwhelmed by the so many injunctions of Islam. So tell me something to which I may hold fast.” The Prophet (SAW) replied ...

“When a man dies, all his good deeds come to an end except three: ongoing charity (sadaqah jariyah), beneficial knowledge or righteous son who will pray for him.”_Saheeh Muslim 1631   This world is temporary! Every human being is going to die one day, and when we do, we become powerless to do any righteous deed or earn any reward except in the three instances mentioned in the above words of the Prophet (SAW). In another narration from Bayhaqi and Ibn Majah, we have the following detailed hadith which goes thus: "Verily, what reaches the believer of his good works and good acts after his death is the knowledge (benefitted from him) and righteous child which he has (left behind) or a book which he has given to inherit, or a place of worship which he has built or a canal which he has caused to be dug, or an act of charity which he has done out of his wealth while in his health and life." From the foregoing, it is clear that we need to think about death and what w...

  “The likeness of the one who remembers his Lord and the one who does not remember his Lord is like the living and the dead._(Al-Bukhari)   If we love Allah (SWT), we will strive to get closer to Him. And the more we strive to get close to Him, the closer He (SWT) will get to us as we can see in the following encouraging hadith. Allah (SWT) says: “I am near to the thought of My servant as he thinks about Me, and I am with him as he remembers Me. And if he remembers Me in his heart, I also remember him in My heart, and if he remembers Me in assembly, I remember him in assembly better than his. And if he draws near Me by the span of a palm, I draw near him by the cubit, and if he draws near me by the cubit, I draw near him by the space (covered by) two hands. And if he walks towards Me, I rush towards him.” [Sahih Muslim]   Remembering the Lord (SWT) is a highly rewarding act of worship. And to chant the remembrance of our Lord (SWT), we have many opt...

“Say: ‘O My servants who wronged against their souls, do not despair of Allah’s mercy! For Allah forgives all sins; for He is indeed Forgiving, Compassionate.’”(Az-Zumar: 53)   The grace of repentance is one of the signs the immeasurable Mercy of Allah. True repentance is remorse for the sins of the past and also a determination to surrender one’s will to Allah. It involves both being sorry for the consequences of sin and then despising the sin itself. Fortunately, it is really never too late for a believer to repent. As long as the repentance is remorseful and sincere, Allah SWT is willing to forgive any sins, no matter the size or form. In essence, to repent, we ask Allah for forgiveness and do all we can to correct whatever harm our actions may have caused. Repentance means a change of attitude from doing the things that are wrong to doing the things that are right. As we are praying and hoping for the best from Allah (SWT), we should always keep this point in mind...