Deception of the Media

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

During my last visit to my hometown, Kerala, an incident happened. It was during my return to Qatar (that’s where I live), while in the airport. I was travelling with my family. We were done with the check-in & all and there was still some more time left for boarding the flight. It was the time of asr prayer. So we thought we would go pray and come. So we went to the prayer room and found that there was just one prayer room for men & women. No separate rooms were there like how we find in the gulf. This was the first time I’m seeing like this. Anyway we went to take wudhu & came back. And luckily at that time the room was empty. Me & my mom starting praying. And then one young man came in to pray. A guy in his twenties maybe, with a little beard wearing a bag (backpack). After I finished praying I saw this guy & was actually surprised & quite impressed too, to see a young guy praying in the airport prayer room. This was not a common scene for me. Nowadays we hardly find young people like this right? Many people while travelling miss their prayers, or are not really bothered about it. So this guy finished praying & was making dua & all. I became more surprised. Then he got up and starting calling someone. By the time we left the prayer room. While all this happened this guy din’t even look at us. This gave me a total impression that this guy seems to be quite a pious person. But while all this was happening something came into my mind. I know I was quite rude & stupid to think that way but for a moment I happened to think that way. I was thinking, “Could this man be a terrorist?”, I mean according to what the media shows us, this man looked like one. We see in the movies right, young people, they look pious, they pray to Allah and all, but in the end they’ll be giving up their life in the name of Jihad. And this happens mostly in railway stations & airports right. I happened to see such a movie before this incident. And the terrorist guy in that looked exactly liked this guy. Maybe that’s what made me think so. And also the way the movies showcase all those, that’s exactly why I thought this way. This is what I call the deception of the media.

There maybe be people among the muslims who do this way due to their false understanding of the concept of Jihad. But the way the media has made it look like now is no way near to reality, & reality is no way near to what the media shows. Because of this, now people are seeing Muslims that way. Just like what happened to me. I’m a muslim, yet it made me doubt another muslim, who maybe totally innocent. If this image shown by media was not there in my mind, that guy will perhaps look like a good pious muslim in my eyes. But because of media it made me think in the opposite & the worst way.

Nowadays, everywhere we can see things which are done to insult Islam. And more than anyone else it’s muslims who fall prey to this. They go believing & following these not knowing that these are things done to insult their own religion. We get trapped in it like fools. And the best example for this is movies only. We know how filthy the movies are nowadays. That’s one thing which is clearly understood that it’s forbidden for us to watch this. But besides that there are many secret traps also in it which we don’t notice. Like making songs which contains shirk, for example, there is a Hindi song “Tujh mein rab dikhta hai” which means “I see God in you”. Do we even realise this? People go singing and listening this maybe even knowing the meaning of it, but not knowing the seriousness of the issue. Shirk (associating partners with Allah), worshipping other than Allah is the greatest of sins. There are many ways which lead to this dangerous sin. But we must have never thought a song from a movie could lead to this right? Such are the traps of Shaythan.

We live in a world  full of temptations, so we should be careful if we want to save ourself from the blazing fire. Hence, because of all the ill effects of movies I finally stopped watching movies. Why do we watch something which don’t have any good in it, & besides that have many ill effects? Even if you claim that there is good in it, can you say truthfully that the good is more than the bad? It’s certainly the other way round. Allah has forbidden us certain things not because they dont have any good, but because the evil in it is more than the good. Same goes for movies.

I read an article recently titled “We are what we watch” on productivemuslim.com. It’s certainly true right. What we watch impacts us so much, maybe without our knowledge. Which is exactly what happened to me too, in the incident I mentioned above. And by the time I landed in Qatar, I totally forgot about it. Maybe because nothing like what I thought happened. But now I feel bad for even thinking like that about that person.

The truth is that even I had fallen to the trap of the media.

The Seekers Path

The other day I was visiting a friend and she asked me the usual questions… how is your health… how are the kids… their educational concerns etc but then she asked me a question which cleared a lot of confusion from my own mind.

It often happens that my mind is filled with a lot of thoughts and I can’t seem to concentrate on anything due to the scattered strings of ideas in which I go round and round in circles without reaching any conclusion… and then a strange thing happens that someone somewhere will ask me a random question and in answering that, I feel like the strings of thoughts are being straightened out and all the confusion in my mind dissolves as if it wasn’t there at all… and best of all I find the answer what I had been seeking myself all that time!!

Well the question…

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Your Heart is the Pillar of Your Worship

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

“…the heart is the machine that drives all acts of worship. It is what moves the entire body! As long as the heart is alive, then the limbs will be alive, and the soul will open itself up to worship. However, if the heart becomes diseased, then worship will become too heavy on the soul, leading to it eventually disliking and hating – and we seek refuge with Allah from this – worship. Because of this, Allah – the Glorified and Exalted – said, regarding the prayer:

{“…and truly, it is extremely heavy and hard except on those who are submissive…”} [al-Baqarah; 45]

The prayer is heavy, because one’s legs and hands are not what get up for the prayer. What gets up for the prayer are the heart and the soul.

{“Verily, the hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, but it is He Who deceives them. And when they stand up for the prayer, they stand with laziness and to be seen of men, and they do not remember Allah but little.”} [an-Nisa’; 142]

Because of this, it is the heart that stands up for worship. The limbs are simply slaves of this heart, carrying out what it commands them. If the heart is alive, then the soul will be alive, and worship will become beloved and sweetened to the hearts and the souls, and they will open up for it.However, if the heart becomes diseased, then worship becomes too heavy on it. The heart is like the digestive system: right now, the most beloved thing to you is meat. However, if you develop an ulcer somewhere in your digestive system, then the meat – along with its fat and oil – becomes the most hated thing to it, since it is diseased. Sweets are also something that are beloved to the soul. For example, if you were fasting right now and were to break your fast on some desserts, then your soul would become satisfied with that, right? However, if one were to be stricken with diabetes, then he would not be able to handle these sugary foods, even if they were beloved to him.The heart is like this: it must be strong so that it can handle worship that is strong. The stronger your heart becomes, then throw as much worship upon it as you wish. You would get up to pray at night, and you would cherish this prayer and consider sleep to be your enemy:

{“Their sides forsake their beds, to invoke their Lord in fear and hope…”} [as-Sajdah; 16]

He begins to forsake it because an enmity develops between him and his bed. He prays behind the imam, and he says to himself: “If only he would make the prayer longer,” so that he would increase in his opening up to this worship, and his tasting of its sweetness. At times, I would pray a normal prayer with the people behind me, so I would elongate the prayer. The youth would then come to me and say (the hadith): “Whoever leads the people in prayer should go easy on them,” – the youth! And there was an old man behind me who was between 90 and 100 years of age – his face filled with light – and he would say to me: “Keep making the prayer long and do not answer them.” A man of 90 years getting pleasure out of a long prayer, and a youth of 20, who probably practices karate and judo, cannot handle the same prayer. Why?

If he went to the soccer field and spent two hours playing there without becoming bored, then why would he become bored from hearing the Qur’an for five minutes? The difference between a short prayer and a long prayer is simply five minutes, so why does he become bored from these five minutes of Qur’an, yet he does not become bored from two hours of soccer? Why does he not get bored from standing for two hours staring at an inflated piece of leather, his heart attached to it?

Because, what stands up to pray is the heart, and what stands up for sports are simply the body and muscles.”

[From a lecture given by ‘Abdullah ‘Azzam on June 15, 1988 entitled ‘The True Preparation,’ found in the collection ‘at-Tarbiyyah al-Jihadiyyah wal-Bina”; 1/220]

Time management from an Islamic perspective

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

“Close has come to mankind his accounting. Will he still be heedless?”

The above Qur’anic verse is the beginning of Surah Ambiya, chapter 21, followed by narrations of the people who were before us, people who were destroyed on the account of their wrong doings.

Life has only one chance.

If you fail in your exams, there is always a next year. If you lose your spouse, there can be a second marriage, but if you die, there is no second chance. This life is only one opportunity.

Those who were before us had lives longer than us. The Qur’an talks about Nuh (alaihi salam), that he worked among his people for 950 years; whereas the average life of this Ummah is around 60 years.

We are the last to come but the first to enter Paradise.

With this short life, we still have the opportunity of making the best. It all depends on how you do, what you leave behind, not whatever you leave behind.

The difference between doing and wanting to do

There are many things in life that we want to do desperately, but we are unable to do them due to various reasons. But, there are many things in our life which we can do, we are supposed to do, yet we do not do them. The list would be a long one. You can include memorizing of Quranic verses, visiting a dying relative or repaying your debt. You have chains of excuses because you don’t want to do these things.

Let us see how much we live actually

If you have to live for 60 years, subtract 15 years of your boyhood where no one questions you. From the remaining 45 years, if you sleep for 8 hours a day, you have deleted 15 years in sleeping. From the remaining 30 years, if you spend 2 hours on the television, you have 2.5 years watching what other people do and nobody pays you for that. From the remaining 27 and half years of your life, you have to earn and yet find out ways for immeasurable reward from Allah.

How and where is our time wasted?

Time is wasted in minutes. Eg: waiting for a friend, at a bus-stop, chatting on useless topics.

Assemble these pieces of minutes everyday and count how many hours you waste every year.

“Let every man know what he has sent forth.” (59:18)

1) Make a list of your time wasters even if they are a few minutes long.

2) Make a list of the things which remain unattended by you and have the potential to become a problem if you don’t give them immediate attention.

Our most productive actions

a) Perform Isha and Fajr salah in congregation and receive a reward of praying the whole night.

b) Do ibaadah in the nights in the last odd nights in Ramadan and earn a reward of worshipping for 1000 months. If you do it for 10 years, it will be equivalent to 833 years.

c) Keep aside one hour everyday for self- development. Suppose you choose to memorize one dua everyday for one hour, by the end of the year, you can memorize 365 duas of the Sunnah of the Prophet (SallAllahu alaihi wasallam). If you want to learn Arabic for one hour everyday, you have 320 hours every year if you are 80% regular in your learning. Now, without wasting time, make a list of the things you would like to learn in the next three months, 6 months, 1 year and 2 years. These are called “short term goals” and “long term goals” in terms of the corporate world.

What are your most productive Islamic activities?

This is for a continuous reward (Sawaab-e-Jaariya).

Choose from the below activities or add your own skills and talents:

a) Teach someone any aspect of Islam, be it a dua, correcting his wudhu or his recitation of the Qur’an and lo! He keeps on doing it properly and your account keeps on increasing.

b) Talk to a non- Muslim about Islam.

c) Be a volunteer for any social cause in helping people.

d) Intercede for a good cause and have a share in it (Surah Nisaa:85). Spot an orphan/ widow and find out a sponsor if you cannot afford it yourself.

e) By now, you must be having a lot of ideas, erupting in your own mind. Note them down just now and remember us in your supplications.

Do this to save time

a) Always carry a good book to read.

b) If you discuss, take something worthy.

c) Help your spouse in his/her work.

d) Visit a hospital and meet the poor and sick.

e) Visit your relatives whom you have not met for a long time.

f) Take your family to orphanages.

A list of probable time wasters

Check out which is applicable to you:

• Sleeping more than average.

• Gossiping with friends on useless topics.

• Watching TV serials.

• Reading useless books.

• Having to wait for a long time at the bus stop.

• Have a list of pending work.

• Chatting on the internet on worthless topics.

• Being addicted to computer games.

• Free lectures due to absence of teacher in school.

“Remember, Allah has not created for idle sport the heavens and the earth and all that is between them.”

How to get the best out of this life?

How many Lailatul Qadr have you missed out? The Qur?an declares:

What do you know what is Lailatul Qadr? Lailatul Qadr is better than 1000 months.

This Quranic verse gives us an idea or a short- cut in earning immeasurable sawab.That is, if you worship or do ibadah in the last 5 odd nights in the month of Ramadan, by the Grace of Allah, one of them would be Lailatul Qadr. In 10 years, it is 50 days, which is lesser than 2 months and if you get 10 Lailatul Qadr in your life. You get a reward of 10,000 months which is equal to 833 years. Now calculate how many Lailatul Qadr you have missed out enjoying the night playing carom, chatting and doing useless things. Henceforth , dont miss out any Lailatul Qadr in your life inshAllah.

Courtesy : balancedleader.net

Seeking Happiness

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Everyone on Earth is looking to be happy. However, few ask the question: What is happiness? Is it wealth after poverty? Health after illness? Strength after wretchedness?

Or is it to possess wisdom and sagacity? To indulge in carnal pleasures? To live a life of absolute freedom, not even confined by the dictates of morality and faith?

Questions like these come easily to mind, since happiness is something real. It is not an illusion. A person of knowledge finds happiness in knowledge. A generous person finds happiness in giving. An industrious person finds happiness in productive work. The pleasure that they feel is far greater than the simple pleasures of eating, drinking, and acquiring wealth.

Yet, the question still remains: Is this is the utmost degree of human aspirations? Is happiness nothing more?

By nature, a human being is never content. There is always a drive to seek after something more, something better. A wealthy person seeks after further acquisitions. A scientist who makes a discovery goes on to another, more ambitious topic of research.

This restless discontent goes on until a person aspires to the Lord, and finds peace in worshipping Him and in knowing that He is protecting and guiding us every step of the way. When `Umar b. `Abd al-`Azîz became Caliph, he wanted to aspire to an even greater triumph. He said: “Nothing remains to achieve except Paradise.”

Allah says: “Those who believe, and whose hearts find contentment in the remembrance of Allah: for without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find contentment.” [Sûrah al-Ra`d: 28]

No matter how much we strive and how much we attain in this world, there will always be pain and discomfort. There will always be sorrows that we are unable to bear on our own. However, if we set our sights on the Hereafter and work righteousness, we will find relief and a balm for our worries. There is, in fact, no other way to attain such peace.

This is because true happiness requires us to aspire to a higher purpose, to have a noble meaning that we carry forward throughout our lives. When our sights are set upon such a purpose and we have full confidence in our Lord, then we can be reconciled to whatever befalls us. Then we experience true peace and contentment. We neither feel excessive joy at the good things that come our way nor excessive grief at the losses that we suffer.

If we take the time to look at those around us – really look at them – we will see the worry and concern written in their faces. Their nice clothes and their smiling expressions may not indicate their worries, but those worries will be visible nonetheless. This is because they are engaged in the relentless competition for material gain, and this preoccupies their hearts and prevents them from attaining real happiness. The Qur’ân expresses this truth most eloquently, as if it is speaking about our own day and time. Allah says: “Rivalry in worldly increase distracts you until you come to the graves.” [Sûrah al-Takâthur: 1-2]

Those who are obsessed with worldly pursuits, their weary, worry-filled days on Earth come to an all of the sudden, while they are unprepared.

All the same, happiness is not to be found in leisure and relaxation, like many people suppose. Happiness is found in surmounting difficulties, in solving problems, in overcoming one’s weaknesses. An indolent person never experiences the pleasure of achievement. Happiness is found in the pain that is followed by triumph, in the sorrow that is followed by joy. It is found in bringing good to people through our endeavors to develop the Earth. It is found in the noblest expressions of our very humanity.

By Dr. Muhammad al-`Abduh