Reformation of the Self

  With this short but powerful hadeeth from Imam Bukhari, we can learn a very useful lesson to use whenever we face extremely difficult situations of life. The lesson is reflected in the title of this article: prayer is always better than despair. The hadeeth goes thus: Narrated Anas bin Malik: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “None of you should wish for death because of a calamity befalling him; but if he has to wish for death, he should say: “O Allah! Keep me alive as long as life is better for me, and let me die if death is better for me.’ ” Therefore, whenever we feel hopeless, instead of despair, let’s return to Allah through prayer and obedience because there are no forces over which He has no control. May Allah SWT guide us aright. Allahuma Aameen.  

    In today’s post, I want to share an authentic hadith that explains the meaning of personal power in a pretty counterintuitive way. It defines strength as it truly is, not as it sometimes appears to be. The authentic hadith from Adab-Mufrad goes as follows: “Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "The person who is strong is not strong because he can knock people down. The person who is strong is the one who controls himself when he is angry." And in another report, Ibn 'Umar explain this further in his own words when he said: "There is nothing that is swallowed greater with Allah in reward than a slave of Allah who swallows and contains his rancour out of desire for the pleasure of Allah." Since we have no power as mere creation—all power comes from our Creator—then the truly powerful ones are the ones whom Allah empowers out of His Grace. And we can’t seek Allah’s Grace with arrogan...

    Today, we want to learn about the gravity of taking false oaths as revealed in the Quran and Sunnah. Since the hadith is a little long, let’s get straight to the point: Abdullah (bin Masud) said, "Whoever takes a (false) oath in order to grab some property (unjustly), Allah will be angry with him when he will meet Him. Allah confirmed that through His Divine Revelation: "Verily! Those who purchase a little gain at the cost of Allah's covenant and their oaths . . . they will have a painful punishment." (3.77) Al-Ashath bin Qais came to us and asked, 'What is Abu Abdur-Rahman (i.e. Abdullah) telling you? 'We told him what he was narrating to us. He said, 'He was telling the truth; this Divine Verse was revealed in connection with me. There was a dispute between me and another man about something and the case was filed before Allah's Apostle (SAW) who said: 'Produce your two witnesses or else the defendant is to take an oath.' ...

    With the following authentic hadith from Imam Muslim, we shall be reminded of a very rewarding act of worship which can be completed in less than thirty minutes from beginning to the end. Yes, it only takes that less of a time but it is awesomely rewarding to the believer. Please read the hadith below to get a glimpse of Allah’s infinite Mercy and Grace: ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Amir reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “No Muslim performs ablution well and then prays two cycles… …with his heart and direction focused… except that Paradise will be necessary for him.” Na’am. That’s all. May Allah (SWT) save us from heedlessness and neglect. Aameen