Why evil exists?

Allah does not create pure evil which does not have any good or contain any benefit, wisdom or mercy at all, nor does He punish anyone without having committed a sin. Something can be good in terms of its creation when viewed in a particular perspective and at the same time be evil when viewed in another way. Allah created the devil and by him He tests His servants, so there are those who hate the devil and fight in His way and they stand at enmity towards Satan and his followers and there are others who are at allegiance with the devil and follow his steps. So evil exists in His creatures by His will and wisdom, not in His actions or act of creating.

Source: Book-> Fortification for Muslims

The Arrogant Nafs!

When Allah created the intellect, He said

• O intellect, turn away. And it turned away.
• O intellect, turn and come. And it turned and came.
• O intellect, who am I? It said, “You are Allah, Lord of the worlds.”
  

When Allah created the nafs, He said

• Turn and come. And it turned away.
• Turn away. And it turned and came.
• O nafs, who am I? It said, “You are you and I am I."

Allah overcame the nafs with hunger, and it was humbled. Allah said

• O nafs, turn away. And it turned away.
• O nafs, come. And it came.
• O nafs, who am I? And the nafs said, “You are Allah, Lord of the worlds."

Source: taken from a Sunnipath lecture

Ramadan Mubarek

Dear Muslims,

Ramadan Mubarek. Alhamdulillah we are lucky to enter this blessed month once again. May Allah give us tawfeeq to make the most of it. InshAllah.

Below are certain parts of Imam Zaid's article Ramadan Lessons that I would like to share:

Abu Hurayra, may God be pleased with him, relates that the Prophet, peace upon him, said: “The reward of every action undertaken by the human being is for him—and good deeds will be rewarded from ten up to seven hundred times—God says: ‘Except for fasting, that is for Me and I will determine its reward......"

In the tradition mentioned above, fasting is exempted from the deeds whose reward is multiplied up to seven hundred times. We understand from this that its reward transcends this particular numerical value. Rather, God multiplies its reward many times over what is mentioned in the tradition, with no specific limitation. One reason for this is that fasting is a manifestation of patience and God has said of the person displaying patience: Rather, the patience ones will be given their reward without numerical limitations (40:10)

Another version of the tradition we mentioned initially states: “Every action the human being does is a source of expiation for his [misdeeds], except fasting, it is for Me and I will reward him for it.” Among the nicest explanations of this is that given by Sufyan b.’Uyayana, he said: “When the Day of Judgment comes God will take account of His servants and all those he [the servant] has oppressed will be recompensed from the reward of his good deeds until only the reward of fasting remains. At that point God will recompense the remaining oppressed parties [from His bounty] and enter the servant into Paradise on the reward of his fast.” This narration has been recorded by Imam al-Bayhaqi [11], and others.

Based on this meaning we understand that the fast is for God in that no one can take the reward of the fast from the one who has undertaken it. Rather his reward is stored up with God.

In a related issue, it has been said that the reward of all of the religious actions might be a source of atonement for sins [that do not include acts of oppression] until none of that reward remains. It has been related that on the Day of Judgment [a person’s] good deeds will be weighed against [his] bad deeds with the good deeds atoning for the bad ones. If after this process any good remains on that basis its subject doer will enter Paradise. This opinion has been expressed by Sa’id b. Jubayr and others. It also has been related from the Prophet, peace upon him, by Imam Hakim from the narrations of Ibn ‘Abbas, may God be pleased with him and his father.

Based on what has been mentioned [concerning acts of oppression] it is possible to say that the reward of fasting is not removed by this process of atonement for one’s sins, or by anything else. Rather, its reward is held back and then given in full to the servant and based on that he will enter Paradise.

Sweet Revenge

The difference

A Sage was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said. 'Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.' The Lord led the Sage to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the Sage looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made the Sage's mouth water.

The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful. But because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.The Sage shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.The Lord said, 'You have seen Hell.'

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.

The Sage said, 'I don't understand.'

'It is simple,' said the Lord.

'It requires but one skill. You see they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves.'

A dialogue between a Flower and a Pearl

One day, a brilliantly beautiful and fragrant flower with attractive colors met a pearl that lives far in the bottom of the sea and has none of these characteristics. Both got acquainted with each other. The flower said: "Our family is large; roses and daisies are members of the family. And there are many other species that are various and countless; each has a distinctive scent, appearance etc." Suddenly, a tinge of distress appeared on the flower.

"Nothing accounts for sorrow in your talk; so why are you depressed?"The pearl asked.

"Human beings deal with us carelessly; they slight us. They don't grow us for our sake but to get pleasure from our fragrance and beautiful appearance. They throw us on the street or in the garbage can after we are dispossessed of the most valuable properties; brilliance and fragrance."The flower sighed.

And then the flower said to the pearl: "Speak to me about your life! How do you live? How do you feel it? You are buried in the bottom of the sea."

The pearl answered: "Although I have none of your distinctive colors and sweet scents, humans think I am precious. They do the impossible to procure me. They go on long journeys, dive deep in the seas searching for me. You might be astounded to know that the further I lay, the more beautiful and brilliant I become. That's what upraises my value in their thought. I live in a thick shell isolated in the dark seas. However, I'm happy and proud to be in a safe zone far from wanton and mischievous hands and still the humans consider me highly valuable".

Do you know what the flower and the pearl symbolize?The Flower is the UnHijabed Woman and the Pearl is the Hijabed Woman.

Courtesy Cloey

Disconnect

It is useless to have a learned tongue but an ignorant heart.
~Shaykh Abdal Qadir al Jilani