Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki was reflecting on the concept of eternity, asking why is it that Allah punishes people for eternity for just 60, 70, 80 years of disbelief?
Sounds a bit harsh. Then he said death came upon the disbeliever suddenly, that is they weren't expecting it, but had they been given one day more on earth they would still have disbelieved, had they been given two days more they would still have disbelieved, they made the firm resolve to not accept the Message of Islam, so it didn't make a difference if they disbelieved for a short period of time or not, that firm resolve means they never would have accepted Islam even if they had been given an eternity to accept it. SubhanAllah, amazing way to look at it.
Why as a Muslim would we stop there? That is the case of the disbeliever, what about the state of the believer, you could extend that thought to "sins" as a means to check yourself with Allah.
If you sin and you persist on a sin, if tomorrow comes upon you would you do that sin again? If the day after tomorrow comes upon you would you do it again? Everyone knows themselves, alhamdulilah the door of repentance is always open. I suppose that's why part of tawbah being accepted is that you make a firm resolve not to do that sin again. At the same time Allah is Tawab, Rahim; as much as He knows our weakness, He still accepts our asking His forgiveness. No matter how many times we fall into sin. He still wants us to seek His Forgiveness and that is more beloved to Him than a good deed which turns us away from Him.
May Allah strengthen us all in making a firm resolve to stay away from sin and in turn elevate us.
My Hajj story :)
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Umar ibn Khattab teaching a lesson, Umar ibn Khattab style.
When Umar ibn Khattab radiyAllahu 'anhu was khalifa he hated any form of oppression with a passion. Although he it's known in Islamic history as being the staunch Sahabi he was in actual fact an extremely soft hearted Muslim which is nearly always overlooked and hardly spoken about. The difference between him and the average man with anger issues is he knew exactly how to correctly channel his anger. What made Allah and His messenger angry made Umar ibn Khattab angry and what made people angry never incurred the anger of Umar ibn Khattab. Whatever represented oppression and mistreatment of minors invoked a very strong response from him. He was never short of shedding tears over his state with Allah and always remained between the wings of hope with His Lord and fear.
He had assigned a governor to take care of a distant city within the khalifate state. He found out that this governor had built himself a two story house and his office was on the top floor. He got so angry at this that he summoned him to come to him. This was a journey that took months on end. When the man arrives exhausted, drained and fatigued you'd expect that he would be helped off his ride, taken in for a drink of water, a couch to rest on or hospitality of that sort. But... When he reached Umar ibn Khattab, Umar looked at him and commanded that he dismount from his horse. So he did. Then Umar commanded him to get back on the horse.... So he did. Then he told him to dismount again. So he did. Then he told him to get back on. So he did. Then he told him to dismount again. So he did.... The man by this stage was obviously very exhausted and unsure of what to make of all this.
Umar ibn khattab then asked him if he was ok with this sort of treatment? He said no. He said so why have you built yourself a two story house and made your office on the top floor? Are there not elderly, disabled, sick people who will come to visit you and have to climb those stairs to get to you? You put them through hardship to reach you.
He wanted all his governors to be accessible to everyone, just as he the khalifa was accessible to everyone. It is said Umar ibn khattab didn't have a door to his house, he had a curtain that covered the entrance. That is how much he valued people reaching him and telling him their concerns. SubhanAllah.
He had assigned a governor to take care of a distant city within the khalifate state. He found out that this governor had built himself a two story house and his office was on the top floor. He got so angry at this that he summoned him to come to him. This was a journey that took months on end. When the man arrives exhausted, drained and fatigued you'd expect that he would be helped off his ride, taken in for a drink of water, a couch to rest on or hospitality of that sort. But... When he reached Umar ibn Khattab, Umar looked at him and commanded that he dismount from his horse. So he did. Then Umar commanded him to get back on the horse.... So he did. Then he told him to dismount again. So he did. Then he told him to get back on. So he did. Then he told him to dismount again. So he did.... The man by this stage was obviously very exhausted and unsure of what to make of all this.
Umar ibn khattab then asked him if he was ok with this sort of treatment? He said no. He said so why have you built yourself a two story house and made your office on the top floor? Are there not elderly, disabled, sick people who will come to visit you and have to climb those stairs to get to you? You put them through hardship to reach you.
He wanted all his governors to be accessible to everyone, just as he the khalifa was accessible to everyone. It is said Umar ibn khattab didn't have a door to his house, he had a curtain that covered the entrance. That is how much he valued people reaching him and telling him their concerns. SubhanAllah.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)