A Merciful Death and a Blessed Re-Birth.......

“He Who created Death and Life, that He may try which of you is best in deed: and He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving;-

Surah Al-Mulk 30:2

Yesterday, was truly a sad and also a blessed day. It started out with me receiving news that one of the sisters had lost her 4^th baby. Going through miscarriage is tough for any mother but to go through it four times, is something else. Still, this sister accepted her fate and believes that God has better plans for her. She is comforted by the fact that her unborn baby will be waiting for her in Jannah and will intercede for her on Judgment day.

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah upon him, said, "Indeed the miscarried fetus will confront his Lord if He enters his parents into the Fire. So it will be said to him, "O fetus which confronts his Lord! Enter your parents into Paradise." So he will drag them by his [umbilical] cord until he enters them into Paradise."

 [Ibn Majah]

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah upon him, said, "By the One in Whose hands is my soul, the miscarried fetus will drag his mother to paradise by his [umbilical] cord if she was patient [with the miscarriage], hoping to be rewarded."

[Ahmad]

The physical labor pain that this sister endured when she miscarriaged in fact will expiate her sins, In shaa Allah. Surprisingly, there were no tears from her, just a smile that indicated she was at peace  and have put her entire trust in God Al Mighty.

“ Narrated 'Aisha: (the wife of the Prophet) Allah's Apostle said, "No calamity befalls a Muslim but that Allah expiates some of his sins because of it, even though it were the prick he receives from a thorn."  

Sahih Bukhari

After receiving news about death, I later witnessed a ‘re-birth’.

 Later that evening, I was blessed to be able to witness a brother reciting his shahada. It was truly a surreal experience! This brother, brother R, have been studying about Islam and last night, God had opened his heart to accept Islam unconditionally. Brother R suddenly announced last night that he wanted to become a Muslim (the way God had planned things, MasyaAllah!) and Alhamdulillah, the Wise Owl was also present so brother R recited his shahada in front of the Wise Owl. 

            While brother R was reciting his shahada, I felt goose bumps on my skin, and not only that, chicken bumps, duck bumps, turkey bumps, all the bumps that can exist, I felt it! It was a wonderfully humbling experience. Tears of joy flowed freely amongst us. The atmosphere was electricfying.

            I asked brother R how he felt after. He told me, “the feeling is indescribable but I feel tremendous joy. I also feel light as feather and so relieved. It’s wonderful!”. SubhanAllah! The mercy and blessings from God is indeed mighty and great. 

            Brother R is like a new born baby, free from any sins. He has been given a new blank book of deeds. Ooooooo how I envy him! In fact, I told him that! 

“Say to the Unbelievers, if (now) they desist (from Unbelief), their past would be forgiven them; but if they persist, the punishment of those before them is already (a matter of warning for them).

Surah Al-Anfal 8:38

Hakim ibn Hizam said to the Prophet SAW, "You know that in the days before Islam I used to maintain family ties, free slaves, and give charity.  Will I be rewarded for any of those deeds?"  The Prophet SAW replied, "You accepted Islam with all the good you did in the past."

Hadith - Sahih Bukhari (#70) and Muslim

Narrated Abu Sa‘îd Al-Khudri Allah’s Messenger said, “If a person embraces Islam sincerely, then Allah shall forgive all his past sins, and after that starts the settlement of accounts: the reward of his good deeds will be ten times to seven hundred times for each good deed, and an evil deed will be recorded as it is unless Allah forgives it.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Vol.1, Hadith No. 40A).

See! Now you understand why I truly envy brother R? Who wouldn’t want to have their slates wiped clean? 

            According to Islam, children are born with natural faith in God Al Mighty, which is called ‘fitrah’. A person who grew up in a different religion and embraces Islam later in life, is known as ‘reverts’ because they have returned back to the original faith i.e. Islam.

When thy Lord drew forth from the Children of Adam - from their loins - their descendants, and made them testify concerning themselves, (saying): "Am I not your Lord (who cherishes and sustains you)?"- They said: "Yea! We do testify!" (This), lest ye should say on the Day of Judgment: "Of this we were never mindful":

Surah Al-A’raf 7:172

            In fact, to me, ‘reverts’ are not just people who embraced Islam in their later years but also those who were born a Muslim but never practised. If a person was born a Muslim but have never lived as one or know anything about Islam, then, they are no different than a non-Muslim. That is why when a born Muslim, finds his or her way back into Islam after being strayed, I believe that they too are ‘reverts’. They have returned to original faith.

            Sometime we get too caught up with trying to share about Islam to the non-Muslims that we tend to forget our own Muslims brothers and sisters who are in need of help. You see, it would be easy for a non-Muslim to ask questions about Islam, however silly the questions are, because people would assume that being non –Muslims, they are ignorant so it is forgivable but for our Muslims brothers and sisters, they are ashamed to ask questions for fear of being ridiculed. More often than not, they get statements like, “how come you don’t know this, you are supposed to be Muslims?” Sometimes they get taunted for their lack of knowledge. Now this can lead them away from Islam instead of bringing them closer. 

            We must understand that each of us is given different level of knowledge and understanding by God. If a brother or sister, whose knowledge is less than ours, comes to see us, then it is our duty to share with them our knowledge. We are in no position to judge them as their life path is different from ours. They have been sent to us by God for a purpose and if we turn them away without helping, we will be answerable for our action on Judgment Day. Remember, EVERYTHING happens for a reason. 

            So while we celebrate welcoming a new brother or sister into Islam, do not neglect those who are already Muslims but lost their way. Sometimes, their stories of their journey back to Islam is more miraculous………

Stubborn as a Mule, Proud as a Peacock.........

“Declare your jihad on thirteen enemies you cannot see -egoism, arrogance, conceit, selfishness, greed, lust, intolerance, anger, lying, cheating, gossiping and slandering. If you can master and destroy them, then you will be read to fight the enemy you can see.” ― Al-Ghazali

“Proud people breed sad sorrows for themselves.” ― Emily Brontë

I think one of the diseases of the heart that plagues mankind is arrogance or pride. This sickness can easily creep up without us realising and stake a place in the heart. It starts with a small dot that later spreads like cancer. 

            Sometimes, we don’t even realise that we are being arrogant or have pride in our hearts. Did you know that the Muslim scholars in the olden times used to wash the toilets in the Masjid whenever they feel an iota of pride or arrogance crept into their hearts? Imagine that! 

            Arrogance can take many forms. It can be arrogance to the vast of knowledge one posses or wealth that one owns or even what one expects one deserves. Some expects that they only deserve the best and anything that fall short is not good enough.

“Serve Allah, and join not any partners with Him; and do good- to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, those in need, neighbours who are near, neighbours who are strangers, the companion by your side, the wayfarer (ye meet), and what your right hands possess: For Allah loveth not the arrogant, the vainglorious;-“

Surah An-Nisa 4:37

Arrogance is one of the traits of satan. It is because of arrogance satan got kicked out of Jannah. Remember what happened?

“And behold, We said to the angels: "Bow down to Adam" and they bowed down. Not so Iblis: he refused and was haughty: He was of those who reject Faith.”

Surah Al Baqara 2:34

“So the angels prostrated themselves, all of them together:

 Not so Iblis: he refused to be among those who prostrated themselves.

(Allah)) said: "O Iblis! what is your reason for not being among those who prostrated themselves?"

(Iblis) said: "I am not one to prostrate myself to man, whom Thou didst create from sounding clay, from mud moulded into shape."

(Allah)) said: "Then get thee out from here; for thou art rejected, accursed.”

Surah Al Hijr 15:30-34

It is narrated on the authority of 'Abdullah b.  Mas'ud that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) observed: None shall enter the Fire (of Hell) who has in his heart the weight of a mustard seed of Iman and none shall enter Paradise who has in his heart the weight of a mustard seed of pride.  (Sahih Muslim Book 001, Number 0165)

I used to be very arrogant. Astagfirullah…may God forgive me for that period of ignorance. Anyway, I used to be very arrogant until I got few lessons in humility. Those lessons were painful to learn but necessary to knock me off my high horses. Of course my ego suffered some bantering and bruising at that time but the lessons that I learnt are firmly etched in my head.

            The danger with arrogance is, sometimes we don’t realise its presence in our hearts. The most common case of arrogance is we feel that we are better than others. We refuse to learn from people who we think are less qualified than us. Some of us insist on a Phd or Master qualified teacher to teach before we are willing to listen, let alone learn. We look down on anyone who we think is less worthy to teach us. Now, that is pure arrogance. 

            Are we forgetting that our beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW was illiterate? He didn’t have a degree from any university but yet he was the best teacher. Of course, he was created special from any one of us. If God wanted, God could have bestowed upon Prophet Muhammad SAW with recognition from respected learning institutions of that time, which may earned Prophet SAW, respect from fellow men but He didn’t. I do believe that the point that God wanted make is knowledge and understanding will be given to whom He wishes and it can also be to a poor orphan boy.

             Do not belittle a person who is trying to share their knowledge; after all they are following the teachings of Prophet SAW.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Do you know who is most generous? ... God is the Most Generous, then I am most generous to humankind, and the most generous people after me will be those who will acquire knowledge and then disseminate it. (They) will come on the Day of Resurrection singly, like a ruler." Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 93

             Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that you can’t learn from the best teachers who are highly qualified but the point I’m trying to make is not to look down on someone who is not. Do not limit your education to a certain group only. Sometimes paper qualification does not mean that person has understanding. A person can memorize everything and pass the exam with flying colours but it does not mean that he understands what he memorised. A good teacher is someone who can make his students to understand the lessons that he is teaching and leaves a mark in their hearts.

            Don’t be too quick to judge that a poor man would not be able to teach you anything. A poor fisherman can teach you how to fish and perhaps be the best fisherman. He didn’t acquire that knowledge in any university but that knowledge was obtained through years of experience.

            Some of the lessons that I learned about life was taught to me by the less unfortunate people. They may be lacking in worldly wealth but they are rich in knowledge and they are generous in sharing.

             For some of you who are fortunate enough to be granted knowledge from God Al Mighty and respect from peers do not forget your obligation to share. Do not turn anyone away just because he or she could not afford to pay you, especially those with knowledge in Syariah. I personally feel that to share knowledge on Islam is compulsory to ALL Muslims.  I have a very vivid imagination and that scenario that I imagined on Judgment day when my time comes…

God: I bestowed upon you knowledge of Syariah. Did you share among your brothers and sisters about My rules and commands?

            Me: (quivering like mad and squeaked) No!

            God: WHY???

            Me: They couldn’t afford my fees….

Roar!!! The fiery Hell swings open its door and I am tossed in to stoke the fire that is raging within! 

Aarrgghhhh! I very much prefer another scenario to imagine please! So…I don’t have Phd or Masters to my name but I am going to continue sharing whatever knowledge that I have. If anyone thinks that I’m not worthy to share my knowledge with them, please walk away quietly. Do not pass any comment unless you want to hear me roar. I have a better control of my anger most of the time but I can’t vouch for the occasional loss of insanity. I really don’t mind if they do not want to listen but do not belittle my efforts or anyone else for that matter, who is merely trying to uphold the sunnah of our beloved Prophet SAW. If you are not going help us share, do not hinder us. I do apologise if this posting sounds very harsh but I do feel that it needed to be said…….

 The Prophet SAW said: "Acquire knowledge and impart it to the people." - Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 107

Are We OK?

“A good accountant will always anticipate and provide for potential loss and never anticipate gain” – Basic Accounting Principles

Once upon a time ago, an acquaintance of mine said this to me. “I pray 5 times a day, most of the time, I fast every Ramadhan and I give money for charity. I am a good Muslim because I never disturb others. I believe what I’m doing is enough and I will be ok. There is no need to do anything extra”

What was my reaction to her statement? Well….believe it or not, I kept quiet. I didn’t offer any comment but instead I merely smiled at her. I knew at that time that any comment that I make will lead to an argument. I decided a long time ago, not to argue about religion with anyone. I was paid, as a lawyer, to argue my cases in court on behalf of my clients but when it comes to religion that is where I draw my line.

It was not because that I agreed with her statement, in fact, it is quite the opposite but I knew at that time, she wasn’t expecting a comment from me neither would she welcome it. She wasn’t asking a question either but she was merely stating her point.

Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Whoever does not argue when he is in the wrong will have a home built for him on the edge of Paradise. Whoever avoids it when he in the right will have a home built for him in the middle of Paradise. And whoever improves his own character, a home will be built for him in the highest part of Paradise.” [Tirmidhi]

I am not the ‘religious police’. I can’t go round telling people what they are thinking or doing is wrong because I, myself, am not sure if whatever I am doing is right. If this acquaintance was to ask me a question, then it would be different story because I will be giving her my own personal opinion based on my limited understanding but I would still attach an exemption clause to my answer and would still tell her to refer the matter to an Islamic scholar.

Her statement got me wondering though. Have I ever thought consciously or sub-consciously, that whatever act of worship that I am performing is enough to earn me a ticket to Jannah? Have I ever been cocky enough to think my deeds are sufficient to shield me from the Fires of Hell? Have I ever been arrogantly enough to think that I am ‘safe’?

You see, each of us have our own book of ‘accounts’. Our books are called books of deeds and it is maintained by the two Angels that are appointed specifically to jot down ALL our deeds. Nothing is left out.

Unlike the normal books of accounts, where we can check the transactions every end of the month and make sure that it balances, our book of deeds are quite different. If there are any shortages in the normal book of accounts, then we easily can top-up the differences or add in to ensure that we have a positive balance. Unfortunately, our books of deeds are not visible to us. We can’t check to see if our deeds are balanced. We can’t ensure that there are no shortages whereby the bad deeds outweigh the good. The only time that we will be shown our books, is on Judgment Day. By that time, it will be too late to do any rectification work.

Just the other day, the Wise Owl brought up this topic. He said “Sister, we must never think that whatever we have done for Allah Al Mighty is enough. We must never be arrogant to think that we are okay and that we have secured a place in Jannah. By performing the basic acts of worship, we will be rewarded for it but that reward may not stay with us permanently. It might be given away later. If we have very little reward in our books, then, if it is given away, we will be left with nothing.”

What the Wise Owl was referring to about ‘rewards being away’ is related to this hadith.

“Whoever has wronged his brother, in the way of property or honor, let him go to him and repair it, before it is taken [from him on a day] when he has no dirhams or dinars, such that if he has any good deeds, some of the good deeds will be taken and given to [the wronged one], otherwise [if he has no good deeds], some of the other's evil deeds will be taken and cast upon him." [Bukhari, Al-Mazalim, 5/121, #2449. Ahmad, Al-Musnad, 2/435]

The thing is we sometimes don’t realize that we have committed wrong. As human we will definitely make a mistake or commit a sin. The only person who was free of sins was our beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW.

 You see, a piece of juicy gossip can easily be disguised as a piece of important news so when we utter it or hear it, it does not cross our mind as it being sinful. We may have, unintentionally taken something belonging to others. For example, some brothers have told me that if they lose their shoes or slippers during Jumaah prayers, either they will walk home bare footed or take the other slippers that they can find. Now, the latter is actually stealing because they have taken something that did not belong to them.

We sometimes take lightly the smaller sins that we commit on a daily basis, thinking that it is ‘small’. We take for granted that we only need to ask for forgiveness and all our small sins will be forgiven. After all, Allah SWT is very Merciful but, we fail to realize that small sins can accumulate to become a mountainous of sins. Sins against another person will not be forgiven by God but it must be forgiven by the person whom we have wronged. If we did not manage to seek for forgiveness, thenthat is when our rewards will be given to them on Judgment Day. The Wise Owl said that if we are not careful, we might end up ‘bankrupt’ on Judgment Day and to make matter worse, if we do not have any more rewards to give away, the bad deeds of the person whom we have wronged, will be added to our own list of bad deeds. Imagine going to Hell for other someone else’s sins!

The moral of the story is, we must never take for granted that we have done enough acts of worship or good deeds. We must never be arrogant to believe that we will be given a place in Jannah. Strive hard to increase our ibadah and good deeds because we must take into account the good deeds that we may have to give away later. Never be too sure that our bad deeds are less than our good deeds. Never think that we are safe from the Fires of Hell. It is not for us to declare ourselves as good Muslims because only God Al Mighty is qualified to do that. …….

Mind Your Language......

“The limits of my language means the limits of my world.” ― Ludwig Wittgenstein

When my sisters and I were small, our parents enrolled us into normal government school. The main language that was spoken in school was Bahasa Melayu hence my sisters and I conversed most in Malay. Our English was so atrocious, that my dad would cringe every time he heard us speak. So, my dad decided that things must change for the better.

            My dad made us, my sisters and I, speak English whenever he was home. It doesn’t matter if we spoke broken English, as long as we tried and practised. So, in the beginning, he would hear things like , “Abah, Abu (my dad’s pet mynah bird) jump jump his food upside down” or “eh you don’t play play with me!” or “Abah, mak are call you eat dinner now”. I’m not joking, that was how bad we were but never once did he mocked or laughed at us, instead he kept encouraging us on. Of course, every time he corrected us, we would be giggling like silly girls. Then my dad decided to take one step further in insisting that even our friends, who by came to the house, must speak English also. Now, that ignited another giggling spasm!.If we wanted something, we needed to ask for it in English. Failure to do, our request will be ignored or even denied. So, our friends were also forced to practise talking in English. We actually had fun laughing at each other.

            My dad also made us read English books. He had already instilled the reading habit in us by exposing us to Malay books at a very early age. He made sure that we finished one English book a week so that we are familiar the language.

            When our English got better, my sisters and I started to even speak English in school. Of course, we got taunted by a few ‘sour grapes’ students, saying that we were trying to show off or that we were forgetting our ‘Malay’ roots, but that did not deter us or the friends, whom we had roped into our little ‘project’, from continuing.

            Now, I can speak and write English very well and I have my dad to thank for it. I completely understand now, why my dad emphasised on mastering English because he knows the knowledge path would be unlimited. There are of course good books in Malay but you are limited to only the local writers, unless that is, you can find a translation of the English book. The books in English are in abundance hence imagine the things that you can learn…..

            When I started to re-learn about Islam, there were books that I read, written by foreign writers that gave me so much insight into the religion. Islam is not the religion of Malay or Arab but Islam is the religion of mankind. By being able to read books written by our fellow Muslim brothers and sisters, from all over the world, you would be able to see Islam from through their eyes and appreciate the beauty of the religion through their perspective. Unfortunately, most of these books are written in English. That is why mastering English is very important, in my opinion.

            There is one other language which I would give anything to master and that it Arabic. I realise that I am at the losing end for not being able to understand the language of the Holy Quran. Sure, there are English translations such as Yusuf Ali or Pickthall or Muhammad Asad but translations would not be able to let you experience the real spirit of Quran.

            I remember in one of my Umra trips with one of my girlfriends, the realisation of my ignorance of the Arabic language really hit me hard. It was during one the maghrib prayers where the Imam started sobbing even when he started reciting Al Fatihah. His recitation was so beautiful and moving that we were sobbing with him. Of course, the fact that we understand the meaning of the Al Fatihah, made our sorrow genuine. But then, when the Imam continued with another verse, his crying got louder and harder so much so, he had to stop for a while because he was crying so hard. By this time, my friend and I were bawling like babies.

            After the prayer ended, my friend asked me why I was crying after Al Fatihah and I told her that I was crying because the Imam was crying but I didn’t understand a single word he was reciting! Then I asked my friend why was she crying, and she replied that she was crying because both the Imam and I were crying, but she too didn’t understand a word the Imam was reciting! Hahahaha! We were actually two fools crying for no reason! I am very sure that the Imam’s sorrow or grief was real but ours were not.

            That was when I realised that if I had learn Arabic, then I would have understood what the Imam was reciting and I would probably have cried even harder than him! Tsk!Tsk!Tsk!.

            The Wise Owl once told me, that for a person who understands the language of the Quran, to him or her, reciting the Quran, is like God is talking directly to them. They feel the spirit of the verses pierce directly into their hearts and it remains.

            Isn’t that wonderful? I want to be able to appreciate Quran in Arabic as how I have learnt to appreciate the classical language of Shakespear or even Jane Austin but at this moment, I just have to be contented with reading the translation.

            So, moral of the story is, try to learn Arabic. Don’t make excuses about not having time as there are many ways to learn Arabic without having to step out of the comfort of your home, such as on-line courses. Trust me, I have come up with just about every excuse there is about 'why I’m not able to learn Arabic' (it’s a foreign language, no time, too old blah blah blah!) and each time, God smacked me with a solution until I simply gave up making excuses. I have started my course but I am still far from understanding Quran.  My mum speaks Arabic fluently because she took the trouble to learn but pathetic me only knows (other that the common greetings and salutations), ‘lah’  which means ‘no’ and ‘naam’ which means ‘yes’. But still, I am making progress…….

            If I can learn English, I should be able to learn Arabic…..right? Even Ustad Nouman Ali Khan said that God said, “We make Quran easy for those who wants to memorise”............So…..wish me luck peeps…..

“The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “One who treads a path in search of knowledge has his path to Paradise made easy by God…” - Riyadh us-Saleheen, 245