Life is Priceless Until Sold

Salam alayk wrh.

I'm very much aware that Ramadan is very, very near and it's a cause for a celebration of 'ibadah. However, I'm not gonna touch much on the subject since it's a well-known fact that Ramadan it's the month for any 'ibadah and change of akhlaq.

"Because of that We ordained for the Children of Israel that if anyone killed a person not in retaliation of murder or (and) to spread mischief in the land - it would be as if he killed all mankind, and if anyone saved a life a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind. And indeed, there came to them Our Messengers with clear proofs, evidences, and signs even then after that many of them continued to exceed the limits (e.g. by doing oppression unjustly and exceeding beyond the limits set by Allah by committing major sins) in the land!"

[Al-Maidah 5:32]

Yes, about life. Not life as a whole process but a fact that is often overlooked in normal times, that we are living, breathing and simply alive. 

Learning Biology at a higher level has opened my mind of the extremely delicate mechanisms that Allah SWT

has devised to have the ahsaneel taqweem - greatest of creations; a title He blessed upon humans, alive and functioning to the maximum. 

From the verse above, Allah has put a very high price, priceless actually, on the lives of humans such that a life of a single man is equal to the whole mankind. Is it because that humans are very hard to make? Don't think so with the piles of babies born year by year, but because of the value of life itself; it's a gift. Gift of time, energy and opportunity to be better, be of service to others, but what is more of importance is stated in the ayaah below:

"And I (Allah) created not the jinns and humans expect they should worship Me (Alone)"

[Ad-Dhariyat 51:56]

Undoubtly it's a very famous ayaah but how many realise of it's raw importance? Our sole purpose is to worship Allah SWT. Is it done only by doing salaah? Definitely no. When we submit ourselves to The All Great, we agree upon His terms that we will do everything that is ordained and reject everything that is prohibited. All this is compiled into a guide called Islam where there is instructions for every moment and detail of a Muslim's life. 

Now, how about to those who disregard the value of life and throw it away like bones of a chicken?

Consider the photo below and imagine if they were alive at that moment and seeing it?

 

*Yes, I did pick that up from 9gag*

Would they reconsider their choice to take their lives? To those who aren't ready to be six-feet under, they will. 

"Do not kill yourselves. Verily, Allah is Most Merciful to you."

[An-Nisa' 4:29]

That is the verse Allah reserved to suicidal thinkers. Didn't we just agreed to do everything He said? If we did, we won't commit suicide. 

Suicide isn't just in the form of taking one's life away immediately, it could be slow with consequences all the way but ultimately it's done by yourself to yourself. 

Okay, that's about suicide, but what about the ones wasting their lives with empty missions and aims?

To have a steady job? 

To date a beautiful girl? 

To be rich exponentially?

Those very aims defeats the purpose of being alive. Living life is not to gain something vague in the way only to depreciate or lose its benefits in the end. Live life so that it's to the fullest, where everyone can benefit from your existence. 

Give sustenance to the needy so that they have the opportunity to live better.

Teach knowledge so that the young can learn and develop the world.

Share experiences so that others don't fall in the same hole.

Isn't that what is ordained by Allah? Apart from doing our salaah but also to yanfa'unnas - be of benefit mankind? Guard relations and strengthen bonds. 

Simply said, you live twice, but the second depends on what you did in the first. (Not karma here)

Your life is not yours to abuse, but is borrowed to gain mardhatilah.

Islam: A Guide to Proper Faith for Dummies

Salam alaykum warahmatullah,

I suppose most would wonder of the slightly improper title, but to my opinion that is the appropriate title to what Islam is to people who are searching for what a real faith is. 

Why so?

Islam is the only faith/religion that gives a wholesome guide to how we should live our lives by living it to the fullest. Islam is the only faith that gives a comprehensive feedback to questions that arises, never criss-crossing and against human nature only showing another route to how to do what is natural. 

Now, what is faith?

Faith is a belief in something. Belief that something has power. Belief that something can be done. Belief. 

Imagine a situation that would likely arise when someone says: "I have faith in you."  or "You have my faith.". Does that mean that we worship someone? Or that someone has changed whom we worship? 

No. It only means that we believe, believe and believe in something. The same holds true for Islam as faith or any religion for that matter; we believe that there is a higher entity that has power over us.

"O mankind! A similitude has been coined, so listen to it (carefully): Verily! Those on whom you call beside Allah cannot create (even) a fly, even though they combine together for that purpose. And if the fly snatched away a thing from them, they would have no power to release it from the fly. So weak are (both) the seeker and the sought."

[Al-Hajj 22:73]

This verse was the kind of mindset that Nabiyallah Ibrahim A.S. had when he observed his ummah. At a ripe young age he wondered of the idiocy and illogical purpose of a man creating something then worshipping it as though it has power over everything, whereas HE was the one who CREATED the idol. 

So Allah, in this verse, described perfectly of the actual situation of the idols that they worshipped. So it is for all faiths that is dependent on the worshipping of multiple deities. 

Even in Greek mythology we can see that multiple deities has never been more than chaos. Entities with enormous power of the world slug it out to be more supreme of the other. Who benefited when they won or lose? The deities themselves. What of their subjects? Only pain and suffering. Thus is the proven mistake of having multiple deities. 

How does this relate to Islam?

Islam has only One to worship and abode to that cannot be described, imagined, touched, spoke, seen physically. Something that is called "ghaaib" or intangible and cannot be seen. Having faith in something as so described would be the strongest of all faiths.
Before moving on; let's recall what is faith again; belief in something, or in a religious sense: belief that God exists, in Islam's case, Allah exists.
Now this notion is not without proof. Allah has proved His existence in thousand if not millions of ways. I need not to recall these proofs, from the existence of the universe to the compliance of modern science with the text of the 1400-something year old al-Quran. The seemingly coincidental circumstances is now agreed and approved to be real, thus truly the al-Quran came from an entity that is the Most Superior.

Now back to the faith part; if you have belief in something that is described as intangible and incomprehensible, then it's only logical that it cannot be proven logically with the tiny and limited minds of men that Allah exists or does not exist , but then Allah has been proven men that He does exists through countless testimonies. Hence, the ones who do not believe in Allah can be said as 'dummies' as they worship something that can be proven wrong and powerless.

After all that has been mentioned, proved and debated above it can be simply said that:
Islam is the Guide to having a proper faith for dummies.

Salam alaykum warahmatullah. 

InshaAllah - The word of power

"and never say such of anything, " I shall do such and such thing tomorrow."

"except (with the saying) " InshaAllah (If Allah wills) ." And remember your Lord when you forget and say: "It may be that my Lord guides me unto a nearer way of truth than this." 

(The Holy Quran, al-Kahfi 18:23-24)

Salamualaikum WRH

To those who don't know, that's the verse containing Allah's warning and guide to whatever we plan to do in the future. 

Alhamdulillah, I still remember the asbab-un-nuzul of the verse which is as follows:

Once a man came to the Apostle Muhammad SAW to ask a question, so the Apostle said, "I will give the answer in three days time (as usually Allah will send a revelation in that period of time to answer)". So the Apostle waited for three days time and no revelation was revealed to him. After a while, Allah revealed to him the verse in al-Kahfi to correct him of his actions.

*******

Can you imagine that? Allah corrected Nabi Muhammad SAW for not saying "InshaAllah"  at the end of his promise.  What is now seen as something little, minor and of little importance is actually big and important enough for Allah Himself to correct our Apostle. 

"InshaAllah" is a powerful word to remind ourselves that we are weak and in need of Him in everything we do. We don't have power to control the future, be it ours or others. When we omit "InshaAllah", we submit that we will try to do our best to have something fulfilled but in the end everything is dependant on His call. 

Hold on to that phrase - "try to do our best". That's why 'InshaAllah' isn't something to be taken lightly. Saying "InshaAllah, I'll do it tomorrow" or "InshaAllah, I will go" doesn't make us ineligible to fault when we 'forget' it purposely nor is it an excuse to wiggle out of a chore. Personally, I dislike (not hate) when people do that. If you don't want to do it, then tell, say something instead of giving false hopes! 

Malay ethics have made Arabic words like; "Salamualaikum", "InshaAllah" and "Alhamdulillah" a part of the normal conversations of a Malay. Sadly, there are many that don't realise the actual usage of the words. 

"Salamualaikum" isn't just a greeting, it's a prayer. 

"Alhamdulillah" isn't just to exclaim so

mething nice, but it's also a measurement of gratitude. 

"InshaAllah" isn't a normal word to become a suffix to a phrase, it's a reminder.

From the above verse, Allah mentioned in the verse 24: " And remember your Lord when you forget and say: "It may be that my Lord guides me unto a nearer way of truth than this." 

How many will accept shortcomings should a plan fail? How many will hold back tears when a life's work is ruined? 

Only the ones who tadabbur the verse - living the verse in their lives. 

Accept that everything is laid out and planned by the One Almighty. What can be changed and remain is subject to His conditions - after praying that is.

So next time when we say/promise something in the future lest not forget to say InshaAllah. It isn't something small and minor, but it's of great importance and measurement of faith.

Wallahua'lam.

Finding Strength from Above

If the previous post was dusty, then I'll need myself a giant broom to clean the inch-thick dust here. *Blows dust*

Salam everybody, and I daresay, it's been a really long time. Been cooped up in the little place down there in Melaka for SPM and they don't really have Internet services there, so that's that.

Alhamdulillah, all praises to the Almighty, I'm now in university under scholarship. It's a completely different life from school; no morning-to-afternoon classes, no strict dress codes, no uniforms, and a lot of freedom.

Now, that's what they tell you before you go to university and it sounds real great, not that it isn't true but what they left out are the dragging lectures, piles of assignments and money management.

I'm 18, haven't got an SPM certificate, still childish yet I'm in university?

Thanks to MARA for that.

See, actually, in terms of mental preparation and a firm spot in the course I'm taking, I'm in no condition to confirm it with the absence of an SPM certificate at hand. Top that with the daunting lectures and advanced subjects, I'm a kid in an adult world.

But I'm okay with that. Why? Because He chose this for me.

" ...He wouldn't burden someone unless he is capable of it. "

The Holy Quran 2:286

This is the verse that I hold on whenever a gigantic challenge is set in front of me and what more challenging to a teenager than choosing and taking the path to one's career in the future? Insha Allah, since I'm about to take up Bachelor in Medicine and Surgery (I'm taking Foundation in Science now), what is more exhausting that a medical degree?

From the verse is His promise to give out tasks and obstacles that He knows we can complete and overcome, it's just the matter of willpower. If you believe that He never breaks His promise than you'll face the challenge head on.

It's normal to face a period of time when all seems lost where everything is breaking apart, life not going the way you want and so on. This is the crucial time to judge one's iman (this is not from a hadeeth or from scholars, just a personal opinion) whether the first move is to face Him and seek His help or to give it all up.

Supplication or du'a always helps. In the du'a, remembering that I'm conversing with Him and He is listening calms me down - that is when I remember.

It's not much of a post, but to share a personal experience. Giving up must be the last and most desperate option. Life will only become more difficult as we grow older, and will only stop it's increasing difficulty only in death.

Of Ramadan and Syawal

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Eid Mubarak everybody!

Woah! There's an inch of dust since I posted. Alhamdulillah after a month of fasting we've now reached the first day of Syawal and Eidul Fitr. To me though it didn't feel like a month of fasting more like half of it, it's just not the same as it is when we were younger. Nevertheless, you can't rewind time and you gotta go on, so I was in the Eid spirit today. It was still a bit odd to eat in the day, it felt like still in Ramadan only you're not fasting. 


Okay, so Ramadan has past and Syawal has replaced it. let's just pray we have done our best in Ramadan and we have attained Lailatul Qadr and everything in the jam-packed Ramadan.
I hope I don't forget to do the six-day fast of Syawal and again;

Eid Mubarak and Selamat Hari Raya!