Today's Reminder
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Living The Quran
Believers' Souls
Al-Tawba (The Repentance) - Chapter 9: Verse 111 (partial)
"Truly God has purchased from the believers their souls and their wealth in exchange for the Garden being theirs."
Al-Razi notes that a subtlety of this verse is that in this profound transaction God is both the buyer and the seller, akin to the way an adult would transact the affairs of a helpless infant. He goes on to note that in the verse God affirms that the immortal substance of a human being "owns" both its ephemeral body and its worldly property, and that by giving both of these over for God's use this immortal substance purchases, as it were, the Garden. This does not change the fact that God is beyond any need for such transactions, and that the wording of this verse is meant as a kindness, a gentleness, and an act of subtlety on the part of God.
Compiled From:
"The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary" - Seyyed Hossein Nasr
From Issue: 920 [Read original issue]
Understanding The Prophet's Life
Safety of The People
Anas ibn Malik reports: There was some alarm in Madinah. The Prophet (peace be upon him) borrowed a horse belonging to Abu Talhah, which was named al-Mandub. He mounted the horse and went. When he returned, he said: 'We have found nothing [to worry about], and we have found this horse to be like a sea'. [Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah]
This highly authentic hadith shows how alert the Prophet was to any danger that threatened his community. Here we see him rushing to its source, not waiting for anyone to join him, borrowing a horse in order to be able to move speedily, and returning to reassure his people once he had established that there was nothing to worry about. What local leader would do this today, let alone the leader of any state? More likely, present-day leaders would go in the opposite direction. The safety of the leader is considered as far superior to the safety of the community. Even in the most caring systems, the safety of the leader is given paramount importance, although he may take measures to ensure the safety of his people. The Prophet, however, was the one to move first thereby demonstrating to his successors that it is their duty to ensure that the people are safe.
When the Prophet reassured his companions that there was no danger, he immediately moved on to divert their attention from the cause of the alarm, so as to bring them back to normality. He thus spoke of the horse he had borrowed, describing him as highly useful and likening him to a sea, in so far as it flowed smoothly.
Compiled From:
"Al-Adab al-Mufrad with Full Commentary: A Perfect Code of Manners and Morality" - Adil Salahi
From Issue: 1023 [Read original issue]
Cool Tips!
Islamic Call
[.. continued from previous issue]
The five means of propagation
First: the individual method; that is, to invite the person individually if the matter pertains to him specifically.
Second: public or mass propagation such as in lectures or exhortations that benefit the generality of people.
Third: private lessons to students each in his specialty. This is the task of the scholars who specialize in their disciplines.
Fourth: propagation through writing, correspondence and authorship with guidance and benefit for those who are called.
Fifth: propagation using modern means of communication to advance the cause of truth or any means within your own individual capacity.
[to be continued]
Compiled From:
"Thirty Lessons For Those Who Fast" - A'id Abdullah al-Qarnee
From Issue: 790 [Read original issue]