Friday Nasiha

Al-Furqan (The Criterion)
Chapter 25: Verse 53

And He it is Who has joined the two seas: one sweet and palatable and the other saltish and bitter; and He has set a barrier and an insurmountable obstruction between the two that keeps them apart.

Commentary:

This happens wherever a larger river flows into the sea. There are springs of sweet water at several locations in different seas where the sweet water remains separate from the salty water of the sea. Sayyidi Ali Rais, a Turkish admiral of the sixteenth century, mentions in his work, Mir'at al-Mamalik, one such place in the Persian Gulf. He writes that he found springs of sweet water under the salty water of the sea and drew drinking water from them for his fellow sailors. In more recent times, when the Arabian American Oil Company began drilling oil wells in Saudi Arabia, they used the water of the same springs of the Persian Gulf as drinking water until the wells in the vicinity of Dahran were dug. Also, near Bahrain, there are springs of sweet water under the sea from which people have drawn upon for ages.

This verse identifies this wondrous manifestation of God's omnipotence as a evidence of His Oneness. But there is an additional, albeit more subtle, meaning implicit in the verse too. No matter how bitter and salty the ocean of human society may become, God can always produce a righteous group of people in the same manner that He can produce a spring of sweet water in the depths of a salty ocean. This spring of sweet water cannot be gulped down by the waves of salty water no matter what.

[Compiled from "Towards Understanding the Quran" by Sayyid Abul Ala Mawdudi, Vol 7, pp. 32, 33]

Ask Him. He Listens: Dua

Turn each anxiety, each fear and each concern into a Dua (supplication). Look at it as another reason to submit to God and be in Sajdah (prostration), during which you are closest to Allah. God listens and already knows what is in your heart, but He wants you to ask Him for what you want. The Prophet said: Allah is angry with those who do not ask Him for anything (Tirmidhi).

The Prophet once said that in prayer, he would find rest and relief (Nasai). He would also regularly ask for God’s forgiveness and remain in prostration during prayer praising God (Tasbeeh) and asking for His forgiveness (Bukhari).

Allah wants you to be specific. The Prophet advised us to ask Allah for exactly what we want instead of making vague Duas. Dua is the essence of worship (the Prophet as quoted in Tirmidhi).

[Taken from "25 Ways to Deal with Stress and Anxiety" by Abdul Malik Mujahid]

This will be a series based on the book "Building a New Society"

Family Crisis

A normal family comprising both parents and children, which was considered as the most valued institution of community life amongst most religious traditions, is now beginning to disintegrate. Divorce rates in many Western societies are surging, and consequently a one parent family is now considered a social norm. Today though there are more cars, washing machines, microwave ovens, TV's, computers, and other domestic appliances per household, yet peace, love, tranquility and trust are fast fading from family life.

From and Islamic perspective, the major causes of family breakdown are:

• Weak hold of family values,
• Confusion in gender roles,
• Lack of marital responsibility, together with
• Alcoholism,
• Adultery, and
• Fornication.

Today, motherhood is not valued by society - rather it is seen with contempt. A woman working for other people in a restaurant or office is valued and her job is trumpeted as a career. In contrast, a woman who cares for and looks after her own family is viewed as a backward woman, and her work is seen to be oppressive. Regrettably, these attitudes and practices have become so widespread and common that they are not even considered destructive to social life.

Because of the lack of marital responsibility, children are born and grow up never knowing who their fathers are. This in turn, produces numerous identity, emotional and psychological problems amongst children, and as a result many grow up to be delinquents and offenders.

In cases of one parent families, or where both parents are in full-time employment, there is usually a lack of proper parental attention and care towards the young. This familial deficiency generally leads the young towards social vices and crimes. Their energies instead of being directed along healthy channels, are either being wasted away or expended in socially harmful activities such as drug abuse, gambling, illicit sex and crime.

In addition, a growing fascination with the latest consumer goods, films, video games, discos, fashion and leisure activities are all creating huge financial pressures and communication gaps between young and old, and between family and community members. Such interests and past-times, and the resulting attitudes and lifestyles, are also giving rise to discontentment, disorder and to general communal decay.

[Compiled from "Building a New Society", by Zahid Parvez, pp. 79,80]