Friday Nasiha

Al-Qasas (The Narration)
Chapter 28: Verse 17

Thereupon Moses vowed: "My Lord, because of the favour that You have done me I shall never support the guilty."

The favour alluded here consists of God concealing Moses', peace be upon him, act of killing and of His enabling him to escape.

Moses' pledge not only means that he would never lend any assistance to the guilty, but also that his help and assistance would never be for the perpetrators of insjustice and tyranny. Zamakhshari and many other Quranic commentators have taken these words to mean that, on that very day, Moses decided to sever his relations with Pharaoh and his government because it was a tyrannical government which had established an unjust rule over God's land.

Muslim scholars have deduced from Moses' pledge that a believer should shun helping a tyrant, regardless of whether that tyrant is a person, a group, or a government. Someone asked Ata ibn Abi Rabah, a well-known Successor (Tabi'i): "My brother is a scribe to the governor of Kufah under the Umayyads. Though he does not judge the disputes of people, the judgements are written by his pen. If he does not have the job, he will become penniless." Ata at this point recited this verse, saying: "It is better for your brother to throw away his pen for it is God Who provides livelihood."

Source:
"Towards Understanding the Quran - Vol 7" - Syed Abul Ala Mawdudi pp. 205-206

Being Tolerant

Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet said:
"May Allah have mercy on the tolerant man, when he buys, when he sells, and when he demands payment."
(Bukhari)

Abu Mas'ud al-Ansari said:
"The Prophet said: 'A man from those who were before you was brought to account and no goodness was found in him, except that he was a man who used to mix with people; he was rich, and he used to order his employees to let off the one who was in difficulty. Allah said: "We should be even more tolerant than him, so let him off.'"
(Muslim)

Source:
"The Ideal Muslim" - Dr. Muhammad Ali Al-Hashimi
"Tolerance of the Prophet" - Dawud Wharnsby Ali

• Allow your teen to attend Muslim Youth camps and participate in organizing activities with other Muslims on a regular basis
• Form sports teams, organize structured sports activities for youth, and arrange for intercity exchange visits. This provides a very healthy supportive environment for teens and make them feel like they're not alone
• Actively participate in grassroots work with your teen. It could be anything from cleaning the environment around you, exchanging gifts with your neighbours, helping the less fortunate in your community ie. clothing drive, retirement home, food bank, soup kitchen etc.
• Make sure your teen accompanies you to various Islamic conferences and conventions. Keep in touch with the organizers of these functions and ask them to have suitable programs for youth included as part of the convention program
• Contact some of the Islamic national organizations who organize trips and make sure to send your teen to some of them
• Never isolate yourself or your family to only those from your own ethnic community... mix with Muslims from different parts of the world and build your relations based on Islam not ethnicity