Friday Nasiha

al-Araf (The Heights)
Chapter 7: Verse 190

Translation:

Yet when He has granted them a goodly child, they associate with Him partners, particularly in respect of what He has granted them. Exalted is God above anything people may associate with Him.

Commentary:

The Quranic account describes the stages of deviation in human beings. The idolaters at the time of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and prior to his time, used to pledge their children to serve their deities or be servants in temples and houses of worship. They did so in order to gain favour with God. Although at the beginning they used to turn to God alone, they then deflected from the summit of believing in God's oneness and fell into the depths of abject idolatry.

Today we see various aspects of idolatry practised by people who claim to believe in God's oneness and say that they submit to Him. Today, people glorify certain gods which they may call, 'the nation', or 'the motherland', or 'the people', or a host of other names. These are no more than unshaped idols similar to the stupid forms of idols the pagans of old had. Sacrifices are offered to these deities on a wide scale in the same way as sacrifices used to be offered in temples.

People acknowledge God as their Lord; it is true. But they then abandon His commandments and His laws while they consider the orders and requirements of their own idols and deities as sacred. Indeed, ancient paganism used to be even more polite with God. It used to acknowledge certain deities to which offerings of children, crops, fruits and sacrifices were made only as a means for them to draw closer to God. Today's paganism considers the orders of its deities as having greater priority than what God commands. Indeed, it abandons His commandments altogether.

It is only the shape and form of deities and paganism that has changed, and practices of worship that have become more sophisticated, offered under different headings. The essence of paganism remains the same behind all these. We must not lose sight of this fact.

[compiled from "In the Shade of the Quran" by Sayyid Qutb Shaheed, Vol 6, pp. 298-300]

The Small Charity

"Do not belittle even the smallest act of kindness, even if it were no more than meeting your brother with a smiling and cheerful face." [Muslims]
"Guard against the fire, even though it be with half a date. And, if anyone does not have even that much, he should do so with a good word." [Bukhari]

We should never consider any charity too small or not worth doing or giving. Some people have so narrow a view that they cannot bring themselves to even utter a kind and pleasant word.

It will not cost a penny to say a good word, but so miserly have we become that we are not even prepared to utter a word of kindness, praise and encouragement. It will make a lot of difference to our spouses, siblings, and neighbours - be they Muslim or non-Muslim - if we were to be loving and kind in all our inter-personal relationships.

[compiled from "In the Early Hours" by Ustadh Khurram Murad, pp. 102-103]

[Based on the advices given by Ustadh Khurram Murad, may Allah have mercy on his soul, to his family in his last will.]

Inviting People to the Truth

Throughout this temporal life, always keep your vision fixed on the task of inviting people to the true faith, and on the effort to make it prevail. Until your very last keep this as your goal and mission. Never allow any other purpose to supersede this supreme objective nor let any other concern prevail over this passion, especially the concern to acquire worldly benefits.

There can be no greater act of perpetual charity than that fact that a person starts to do a good deed because of your inspiration. And if that person were not just to engage himself in the good deed but also make others engage in it, then the perpetual reward for charity shall have increased manifold.

If this work is one of Da'wah, of the struggle to establish the true faith and make the word of Allah prevail, or to ensure enforcing the penalties prescribed by Allah to curb evils, or the revival of some Sunnah of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, then your reward shall be in line with what the Quran calls ad'afan muda'afah (doubled and redoubled) [Al-Imran 3:130]. Not only that, you will also witness the fulfilment of the tiding: "With Us there is more" [Qaf 50:35].

[compiled from "Dying and Living for Allah" by Ustadh Khurram Murad, pp. 58-59]