General
From Issue: 399 [Read full issue]
| Living the Quran |
Al-Baiyina
(The Proof)
Bukhari and Muslim relate on the authority of Jundub (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Whoever acts to be heard and seen, God will cause his falsity to be heard and seen." Abu Umar was once asked about sincerity, and replied, "It is present when one wishes to be praised for something only by God." Sahl ibn Abdallah said, "Only a sincere person knows about deception;" Al-Rabi ibn Khaytham said, "Every act which is not performed for the sake of God comes to nothing." Al-Junayd said, "Even if a man were as poor as Adam, as ascetic as Jesus, as prone to trials as Job, as obedient as John the Baptist, as upright as Idris, as loving as Abraham, and as superb in character as Muhammad, and yet harboured in his heart an atom of desire for other than God, then God would have no need of him." According to Dhul-Nun, one of the scholar once said, "Whenever a man does something sincerely for God, he feels a longing to be in a cave where he will not be recognised." Ibn al-Arabi said, "The greatest of all losers is he that shows his good deeds to other people, and with his sin defies the One Who is closer to him than his jugular vein." Sufyan said, "O you reciters of the Quran! Raise your heads, for there can be no greater humility than that which is concealed in the heart." Compiled From: |
| Understanding the Prophet's Life |
| Forming A Leading Generation The greatest single achievement of the Prophet, peace be upon him, is to secure the long and successful continuance of Islam by educating a whole generation of men and women to establish it so firmly. To succeed in this activity of education, he needed the best insight and wisdom, and knowledge of the dispositions and manners of particular individuals. Three important features of the Prophet's teachings are especially worth noting. Firstly, he placed due emphasis on individual education and did not restrict himself to general, collective guidance. Reform of the individual was the essential foundation for reform of the community: virtue and right guidance spread outward from each virtuous and right-guided individual to influence the community which in its turn offers the best environment for other individuals to realize their potential for virtue and right guidance. Secondly, the Prophet picked the moment when, as well as the person whom, he would seek to improve. If there is inward readiness for it, acquisition of knowledge is easier, more enduring and more fruitful. In the same way as watering a thirsty land is more profitable than pouring the same water on impermeable rocks, so attention needs to be paid to the occasions and circumstances in which guidance is presented. As well as teaching the right person at the right moment to the right degre, the Prophet encouraged consistency and regularity in good acts. A strenuous act of virtue soon disappears as a gesture, whereas a little good done regularly brings greater benefit for longer. That is surely the meaning of the authentic hadith: 'The acts most pleasing to Allah are those which are done regularly, even if they amount to little.' [Bukhari, Muslim] Sustained good deeds have an assured, solid increase - just as drops of water may accumulate into a river or ocean. Compiled From: |
| Blindspot |
Emotions and Spirituality We live in a world where emotions are promoted and emotions have nothing to do with spirituality, in fact they are its opposite. Emotions are superficial reactions. Not superficial in a bad way, but the first reaction surfacing when something happens. Spirituality is something different. It is about effort, about something that you experience deep in your heart. Spirituality is the way to master your emotions, not to be or to submit yourself to your own emotions. It is of vital importance to talk about our spiritual teachings. What do they tell us of mastering emotions? Why is it so important to go beyond our emotions? Because they put us in a position where we perceive ‘us’ versus ‘ them’ and where we have to defend our identity. That mindset is perverse, it is vicious in the world that we are living in to see each other as separate, always protecting myself from you and you protecting yourself from me. It makes dialogue quite impossible. Spirituality has nothing to do with naivety. Spirituality has nothing to do with just dreaming. It has to do with a critical mind enabling us to make an effort, a spiritual effort to take a distance from our emotions and to try and understand the world. It means to learn to listen and it is not easy to listen when you are emotional. We have a complex heart, living in a complex world. To learn to listen is not just dreaming about being together, it means to get to know each other more and to promote something which is very simple. Compiled From: |
