Good Knowledge

"Useful knowledge is that which makes you grow in the fear of Allah, increases you in awareness of your defects, deepens your knowledge of the worship of your Lord Most High, decreases your desire for this world and increases your desire for the life to come, and opens your eyes to the defects of your actions so that you guard against them."


~ Imam Ghazali ~ </iframe>



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Simplicity of Prophet Muhammed (PBUH)

Muhammad was a very simple person and spent all his life in simplicity. He was very unceremonious and informal in his habits. He ate whatever he was given, wore very thick and coarse cloth, even when he was the ruler of a state and undisputed leader of the people. He sat on the floor, bare ground or a mat without any hesitation, alone or in the company of other people. He ate bread made from coarse flour and even spent days on mere dates. He wore simple clothes and did not like display or show. He was by nature simple and liked simplicity and informality in everything.

Ibn Masud said that God's Messenger slept on a reed mat and got up with the mark of it on his body. He said, "O God's Messenger! I wish you would order us to spread something out for you and make something." The Prophet replied, "What have I to do with the world, I am like a rider who rests for a while under the shade of a tree, then goes off and leaves it." Ubaid-Allah bin Muhsin reported God's Messenger as saying, "If anyone among you is secure in mind in the morning, healthy in body and has food for the day, it is as though the whole world has been brought into his Possession."

Abu Hurairah reported God's Messenger as saying, "Look at those who are inferior to you and do not look at those who are superior to you, for that is more likely to keep you from despising God's Favour on you." Abu Talha said, "When we complained to God's Messenger of hunger and raised our clothes to show we were each carrying a stone over our belly, he raised his clothes and showed that he had two stones on his belly."

He liked simple living and wanted his family to lead a simple life and abstain from ostentatious living. He often wore thick clothes. His bed was sometimes of rough blanket sometimes of skin filled with palm fibres and sometimes of ordinary coarse cloth.. In the ninth year of Al-Hijrah, when the Islamic state had extended from Yemen to Syria, its ruler had only one bed and one dry water-bag of skin. A'isha reported that when he died, there was nothing in the house to eat except some barley.

Once Umar entered Muhammad's house and noticed the state of the furniture in it. Muhammad himself had only one sheet of cloth round him to cover the lower part of his body. There was one simple bed, with one pillow filled with nut fibre; on one side of the room was some barley and in one corner near his feet was an animal skin. There were some water-bag skins hanging beside his bed. Umar said that on seeing this tears came into his eyes. God's Messenger asked the reason for his tears. He replied, "O God's Messenger! Why shouldn't I cry! The strings of the bed have left marks on your body. This is a small room with all your furniture, I can see what there is. The Kaiser of Rome and Kisra of Persia enjoy luxurious living while you, God's Messenger, and the Chosen One, live like this." He said, "Ibn Khattab! Don't you like that they choose this world and we choose the Hereafter?".

In short, Muhammad lived and liked a simple life and enjoyed every minute of it. He taught his companions, through his personal example, to lead a simple life and not to be ostentatious.

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Conscious and unconscious

Our body is a highly complex organism. There are numerous functions going on at all times in our bodies like seeing, hearing, digestion, respiration and different kinds of movements. Almost all these functions are governed by the unconscious mind. Little effort is required on the part of our consciousness for the smooth functioning of these bodily requirements.

The conscious mind has unlimited capacity for thinking and analysing facts. But if everything is placed in charge of the unconscious mind, according to the divine plan of creation, what is the role of the conscious mind? It is to seek out the truth. The Creator has made the conscious mind free to involve itself solely in the great quest for truth. To search for truth is our greatest task.

What is truth? Truth is, in other words, the reality of life. We must try to know the secret of life, its purpose and goal, to know what is right and wrong, what are the minus and plus points, what is negative and positive thinking, what is good for the individual and for society.

The answers to these questions are not written on any mountainside. It is up to us to discover the truth. Knowledge of truth is so important that the Creator has consigned our bodily affairs to the unconscious mind.

People frequently live in a state of frustration. And great men are no exception. They live frustrated lives and they die frustrated. Tension and stress are ubiquitous.

The reason lies in people's failure to find the truth. Everyone is a seeker by birth, but everyone lives his life without knowing what the real purpose of life is. Due to this aimlessness, people are living in a state of confusion. They speak and write, but without clarity. They live lives fraught with contradictions. They yearn to find something but without knowing what that something is.

A tension-free mind is one that can function positively despite contradiction. People work, but without job satisfaction. People run after money, but without experiencing inner satisfaction. People have adopted the formula: Enjoy life! But they don't know what life is and what its real enjoyment is. It is a paradoxical situation and everyone is living in this state of self-contradiction.

It is a self-created problem. When the Creator has given you a mind and made you free to use your mind, you should make use of this opportunity. You have to activate your thinking capacity. You have to discover the reality. You have to read what is hidden in nature in an unwritten form. That is the only way to extricate yourself from this psychological chaos.

The consciousness of truth is interwoven in your nature; it is very easy, therefore, to discover the truth. The only condition is to shun distraction, to follow the well-known principle: simple living, high thinking. If you want to save yourself from going astray, activate your thinking faculty. Think and you will surely reach the gates of truth.

Personality employer believers

Prophet Muhammad has explained clearly about personality we should have when we are  employer, this kind of character is the picture of people who want to get happiness, either here in this world as well as in the here after. May be it could be difficult for the people,  who don't know who God is, what God wants in our life?. But for people who know God, he knows this is exactly what God wants, and he will be willing to act upon God will. Here it is the personality that we should have, Prophet Muhammad says:
"Your servant or the people who work for you are your brothers, and it is just coincidence that Allah has put them under your authority, and so, whosoever has brother under his authority in this manner, he should feed them with similar food to that which he eat, and he should clothe them with similar clothing to which he clothe himself. And do not ask them to do something so difficult to do, if you want to instruct them to do something very difficult, you stand up and help them"
 

عن أبي ذر رضي الله عنه قال : ساببت رجلاً فعيرته بأمه ، فقال لي النبي صلي الله عليه وسلم ( يا أبا ذر أعيرته بأمه؟ إنك امرؤ فيك جاهلية ، إخوانكم خولكم جعلهم الله تحت أيديكم ، فمن كان أخوه تحت يده فليطعمه مما يأكل ، وليلبسه مما يلبس ولا تكلفوهم ما يغلبهم ، فإن كلفتموهم فأعينوهم) أخرجه البخاري( .

"Karyawanmu atau orang yang bekerja untuk anda adalah saudara anda, dan adalah kebetulan bahwa Allah menempatkan mereka dibawah otoritas anda, maka, siapa saja punya saudara dibawah otoritasnya dalam hal ini, dia mesti memberi makan sama seperti makanan yang dia makan, memberi pakaian seperti yang dia pakai sendiri. dan jangan meminta mereka melakukan pekerjaan yang berat, jika memberi pekerjaan yang berat maka bantu mereka."

It means that we must be humble and treat our brothers and sisters as we want to be treated. and this that could lead us to get a paradise. Arrogance will never make us happy, it only will create messy in our life.

Must Love God more

Word of wisdom

The path of God

The path of Allah is long, and we travel on it like turtles and the goal is not to reach the end of the path but the goal is to die upon the path of Allah.«

God is everything.

“Whoever refrains from asking others, then Allah will make him content; and whoever would be self-sufficient, then Allah will make him self-sufficient; and whoever would be patient, then Allah will make him patient. There is no gift that is better and more comprehensive than patience.”

— The Prophet ﷺ [Sahih Bukhari]

 “If you put your whole trust in Allah, as you ought, He most certainly will satisfy your needs, as He satisfies those of the birds. They come out hungry in the morning, but return full to their nests in the evening.” (Tirmizi)

 

Types fo Ghibah

Types of Gheebah (Gossip)

Gheebah has different forms and may take all kinds of means. The worst type of Gheebah is the one that combines gossip and riyaa'. An example would be when some person is mentioned and a man would say: "Al-hamdu lillah that He didn't try us, we would have been tempted to enter the doors of the sultan, or that we don't demean ourselves in seeking the ruins of this world." Or one may say, "I seek refuge with Allah from shamelessness. I ask Allah to protect me from such." The intention here is to criticize the other person and it is done in the form of a Du'a (supplication).

One may also praise another person but the intent is to criticize, such as saying: "How good such-and-such person is, he never had a shortcoming in his worship but now he is being lazy. He was tried with something everyone of us is tried with, which is lack of patience." One would criticize oneself but his/her intention is to criticize others by doing this. At the same time he praises himself by showing that he is righteous since he criticizes himself. In this case, he is Mughtaab, Muraa'ee and praising himself. He combines three shameful deeds and because of his ignorance he thinks that he is a righteous person who would not make Gheebah.

Another form of Gheebah is that one criticizes another person, but the people don't pay attention to what has been said. So he says, "Subhaan Allah. How amazing!..." so the people may listen to him and know what he is saying. Or he may say, "I was hurt to hear about our friend and how he was humiliated. I ask Allah to relieve him." He is actually lying about his concern regarding the friend, in his pretense of making Du'a. If he meant to pray for him, he would have prayed for him while alone.

Be content..!

If you are not content with what little you have, no amount of wealth will satisfy you.”

-Arabic Proverb

Trial

“Do not hate the trials that befall you or the calamities that happen to you, for they may be something that you hate but it leads you to salvation, and there may be something that you love, but it brings to you your doom.”

-al Hasan Al-Basri

To Achieve a tranqulity of the heart

In our journey to gain tranquility of the heart, we explored what we need to know when faced with difficult situations. We need to understand that Allah has told us we will be tested, that these tests are for a reason, and that there will be relief insha’Allah (God willing). When we are worried thinking about the future, we need to work hard but have full trust in Allah that He will not leave us, and we must always think well of Allah because that is what we will find.

Yet in certain circumstances we just feel… broken. Perhaps it is the death of someone close, perhaps a hurtful word, or perhaps a reason we can not pinpoint. Yet this feeling of brokenness can be an invitation to be better acquainted with al-Jabbar.

But isn’t al-Jabbar one of the Names that indicates Majesty and Strength, not Mercy and Beauty?

The root of al-Jabbar is ja-ba-ra and has a wide variety of meanings indicating Allah’s strength and majesty, which Sr. Amatullah explained to us in this excellent article. One of the basic meanings of this name is the One who compels and restores, and demonstrates Allah’s Majesty and Strength over His servants. This is a Name for the tyrants and oppressors to be aware of, because their misdeeds will not go unpunished.

Yet this Name has another dimension: al-Jabbar is the One who is able to restore and mend what is broken. Some of the great scholars would supplicate “Ya Jaabir kul kaseer” when they were faced with overwhelming difficulty, meaning “Oh You who mends everything that is broken.” The Arabic word for a splint that is used to help an arm heal when it is broken is “jibeera” from the same root ja-ba-ra. Thus, when we feel broken, we need to go to the only One who can mend our state–al-Jabbar. Sometimes when we get this broken feeling, shaytan (satan) tells us not to go to Allah because we are being hypocritical by only going to Allah when we are down. Yet this is untrue– Allah has named Himself al-Jabbar and given Himself this attribute; you cannot go to the One whose attribute is mending what is broken, and not be healed by Him.

The example of the Prophet ﷺ is a beautiful one. Imagine being 50 years old, having just lost both your wife of twenty-five years and your uncle who took care of you as a child. Imagine walking into a town in order to ask people for their protection, and instead have them throw stones at you until your feet bleed. How would you have felt? How exhausted, both spiritually and physically, would you have been? And yet, the Prophet ﷺ calls out to Allah in one of the most beautiful and heartfelt du`a’ (supplication):

“O Allah! To you alone I complain my weakness, my scarcity of resources, and the humiliation I have been subjected to by people. O Most Merciful of those who have mercy! You are the Lord of the weak, and You are My Lord too.

To whom have you entrusted me? To a distant person who receives me with hostility? Or to an enemy to whom you have granted authority over my affair?

But as long as You are not angry with me, I do no care, except that Your favor is a more expansive relief to me. I seek refuge in the light of Your Face by which all darkness is dispelled and every affair of this world and the next is set right, lest Your anger or Your displeasure descend upon me.

Yours is the right to reproach until You are pleased. There is no power and no might except by You.”

Read those words carefully. The du`a’ of  the Prophet ﷺ was not “O Allah, please give me x and y.” It was literally the call of someone broken– complaining to Allah of his situation and expressing to Allah how he felt. What did Allah give him? A young boy by the name of Addaas saw the Prophet ﷺ, came to him with some grapes and kissed his bleeding feet. That is al-Jabbar. Imagine how the Prophet ﷺ must have felt after that, the relief he must have felt after the cruelty he was subjected to. And al-Jabbar healed the broken heart of the Prophet ﷺ  in another way – He bestowed upon him the miraculous journey of al-Israa wal Mi’raaj (when the Prophet ﷺ traveled from Makkah to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem to the Heavens in one night).

If we think about the journey, it did not accomplish a great victory nor did it help to convince the Quraysh that he was a rophet. Rather, Allah honored him after all the hardship he had gone through. Think of the resolve the Prophet ﷺ must have had in his heart and the tranquility he must have felt after such an experience.

Therefore, we have to always remind ourselves of this blessed name al-Jabbar; Allah will mend your broken heart. It may be through a kind word from someone that brightens your day or it may be a talk that you attend. It may even be something greater. But call on Allah like the Prophet ﷺ did, recognizing this attribute, and know that He will manifest this Name in your life.

Highly recommend reading “How to Achieve Tranquility of the Heart Series” on Imam Suhaib Webb’s blog.

Paradise

"Jannat (paradise) is only for those who are humble. If there is any portion of pride in a man, he will firstly be thrown into Jahannam (hell fire) wherein he shall be purged and, after being purified and becoming humble, he will be sent into Jannah. In any case no man will go to Jannat with pride in him".

How to Face Problems

The Prophet of Islam started his mission in the first quarter of the seventh century in Arabia- an age of religious persecution. The Prophet’s mission was based on the oneness of God, while the people of that time were believers in idolatry. So they turned hostile to the Prophet and he and his companions became the victims of various kinds of problems. It was obviously an unfavourable situation for the Prophet and his companions. At this critical juncture, God revealed a meaningful peace of guidance. This divine guidance is as follows: So, surely with every hardship there is ease. (94:5-6) In this Quranic verse the same phrase is repeated twice. From this repetition, the Prophet drew a very meaningful inference. That is, according to the law of nature, the situation of ease is double that of the situation of difficulty. So he formulated this principle: “Two situations of ease will surely prevail over one of difficulty.” The fact is that in every situation there are problems, but at the same time there are opportunities. This is a law of nature. But it is also a law of nature that the quantum of opportunities will be more that the quantum of problems. This being so, the best course to adopt is to ignore the problems and divert one’s energy to availing of the opportunities. Complaint about or protest against problems is of no value. Problems are no created by some person: they are a part of the creation plan of God. No one has the power to change the course of nature. We have no option but to accept this natural course. So when you face a problem, don’t be negative. Be normal. Don’t be disturbed. Don’t allow to tension to develop.

 

 

Jealousy

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Keep away from jealousy, for jealousy eats up virtues in the same way that fire eats up wood.” [Abu Daud]

As wood consumes fire, good deeds are destroyed by jealousy. When a person is jealous, they don’t want to help others, they don’t wish for good things to come to fellow Muslims. They backbite about them, hold grudges against them and host all sorts of negative emotions.

The only way out of this losing situation is to lessen one’s love of the world. Jealousy arises out of competition for the things of this world – its riches, its acknowledgements, its power. Since these things are transitory why sweat over them?

How can one lessen their love of this world so that they may devote their energies to amassing the Hereafter? This is achieved by not caving in to the demands of one’s desires (Nafs). The Nafs is like a spoilt child, the more you pamper it, the worse it becomes.

Simple Life

The missing ingredient in today's people is to live a simple life. I look at life around me, actually they have more than what they need if just they follow a simple life, like the life of prophet Muhammad. Do we know that the biggest legacy of his life is simplicity, even his life is under the standar living. But he and his family could be happy. The question is " How it bould be?" the answer is simple, "Because he and his family concern more to the life after death. Paradise is waiting for him and his family. So ask ourself "Which life we concern more"?

Advice of a Wise Man

The thirty-first chapter of Quran is named after Luqman. Luqman was not a prophet, but he was a wise man. He lived before the advent of Islam. He gave some advice to his son, a part of which is as follows: “O my son! Though it be but the weight of a grain of mustard seed and though it be hidden in a rock, or in the heavens or in the earth, God will bring it forth… say your prayers, and enjoin good, and forbid evil, and endure patiently whatever may befall you. surely, this is something which requires firm resolve.
Do not avert your face from people out of haughtiness and do not walk with pride on the earth: for, behold, God does not love arrogant and boastful people. Walk modestly and lower your voice, for the ugliest of all voices is the braying of the ass” (31, 16-189).
This advice can be summarized thus: God knows everything, both hidden and open. This belief inculcates a strong sense of accountability. Then, prayer is not simply a set of rituals; it is rather a way of acknowledging God’s greatness. This acknowledgement makes one realistic and honest.
It is also everyone’s duty to be watchful of others and tell them about the difference between good behaviour and bad behaviour. It is an expression of well-wishing. An honest person cannot afford to live as an indifferent member of society.
Patience is a very important human quality; with out keeping one’s patience, no one can be good in his behaviour in life. It is also required that everyone be determined, for without determination, no one can unflaggingly follow the path of truth.

The greatest minus point in an individual is arrogance, while the greatest plus point is modesty. The ass has the bad habit of disturbing others. Man must refrain from this bad habit.

Gejala awal keikhlasan

Keikhlasan, sebuah kata yang mudah diucapkan namun hanya sedikit yang berjuang keras, berkorban dan berkebulatan tekad untuk mencapainya. Tidak semua orang mampu melihat secara utuh, tentang apa itu ikhlas. Sehingga banyak yang setengah-setengah dalam memperolehnya. Bagi yang mengerti baik energy yang dihasilkan dari ikhlas ini maka mereka akan berjuang keras tanpa lelah dan mau mengorabankan waktu  dan harta benda demi mendapatknya. Karena mereka tahu bahwa bermula dari keikhlasan ini pintu hati Tuhan secara sedikit demi sedikit untuk kita. Sedikit saja hati Tuhan terbuka untuk kita, kita bisa merasakan kehadiran-Nya disetiap saat. Semakin banyak keikhlasan dari setiap tindakan kita, maka akan memperlebarkan pinta hati tuhan untuk kita. Sakinah yang bersemayam dihati kita semakin menguat. Disisi lain Tuhan semakin memperlihatkan bentuk-bentuk syirik tersembunyi - yang dulunya kita tidak mengerti -  dan lalu diperlihatkan Allah kepada kita.

Hari demi hari terus kita lalui bergumul dan berjuang terus untuk meluruskan niat dalam hati. Dan ini adalah perjuangan tanpa akhir. Jika saja seseorang tidak merasakan bahwa hari-harinya merupakan pergulatan melawan keridakikhlasan, maka sesungguhnya dia tidak diberi anugerah oleh Allah mengetahui musuhnya besarnya yaitu syirik tersembunyi.

Ikhlas bukan berarti tidak mengeluh sama sekali, tidak menangis, tidak mencari jalan keluar. Tetapi terus mencari jalan keluar sembari menaruh percaya dalam Tuhan bahwa Dia menirimkan ini untuk membersihkan kita dari kotoran niat yang salah. Dari niatan yang tidak berbuah. Allah memotong ranting-ranting yang tidak berguna agar buah dari sebuah pohon lebat, matang dan punya harga tinggi. Minta kepada Allah agar diberi hati yang mudah mengikuti kehendak Allah adalah penting. Tuhan tidak pernah menyia-nyiakan permintaan hamba-Nya. Dan jika permintaan kita lebih dominant terhadap hal-hal yang bersifat spiritual, itu menunjukkan bahwa kita mulai bergerak lebih mengutamakan Allah diatas yang lainnya. Dan ini adalah gejala baik.