Lower Desires, Avoid Exaggeration, Freedom Fighters, Self-Adhesive Stamp
Issue 230 » July 11, 2003 - Jumada-al-Awwal 11, 1424
General
| Living the Quran |
An-Naziat
(The Setting Stars) Ibn al-Qayyim noted that the desires lead to one's wants and goals being distorted or ruined. This causes the person to commit sins. Al-Qurtubi quotes ibn Masud as saying, "You are living in a time in which the desires are steered [and controlled] by truth. There will come a time in which the truth will be steered [and controlled] by the desires." Ibn Taimiyyah once noted that the root of deviation from the straight path lies in either giving preference to one's own deductions and conclusions over the text of the Quran and Sunnah or in following one's desires rather than the Command of Allah. Furthermore, a very dangerous facet concerning desires is that they can afflict a person even after he has attained knowledge. In fact, Sayyid Qutb noted, "Ignorance is easy to cure. However, desires after knowledge are a destructive force in the soul that needs a long-term, difficult jihad to cure." To make matters even worse is that the desires and lusts in the soul are of numerous varieties. Perhaps if one can control one or some of them, he may not be able to control the others. Some of them are actually quite natural to the human being. For example, the innate desire for wealth and sexual pleasure aids in establishing civilizations on earth as well as propagating the species. However, in order for them not to have a negative effect, they must be nurtured and restrained according to the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah. One can become enslaved to what he is desiring such that desire becomes the controlling factor in his life. It is said, "The slave [human] is free as long as he is content [with what Allah has given him] and the free one is a slave as long as he desires." Source: |
| Understanding the Prophet's Life |
Avoiding Exaggeration The true Muslim avoids exaggerating in his speech for the purpose of showing off or attracting attention. Exaggerated speech and foolish chatter are not characteristics of the true Muslim who loves noble things and hates foolishness. They belong to the empty-headed person whose only concerns are to show off and attract attention. Abdullah ibn Masud, may Allah be pleased with him said:
Source: |
| Islamic History |
Freedom Fighters The first force of freedom fighters in the history of Islam came into existence when Utbah ibn Usayd, better known by his title Abu Busayr, was refused shelter in Madinah from the persecation in Makkah to keep the peace agreement of Hudaybiyah alive. As he left Madinah, Abu Busayr realized that he had to cause the Quraysh some trouble in order to survive. He, therefore, sought a place on the coastal route of the Quraysh's caravans where he stayed in hiding. Whenever a Quraysh trade caravan passed he would attack it, looting as much as he could of its goods. As these attacks were reported in Makkah, they provided encouragement to the Muslims there. Abu Jandal and his fellow Muslims in Makkah carefully planned their escape, and as many as 70 of them were able to join Abu Busayr in his hiding place. Soon afterwards, they were joined by a number of people from various tribes such as the Ghifar, Aslam and Juhaynah, who were not bound by the peace agreement between the Prophet and the Quraysh. History in all its ages, including today's, shows that there is no simple answer to the problem of determined guerrilla fighters. Despite the great advances in modern weaponry and the large resources states are able to mobilize against freedom fighters, a guerrilla war is the hardest to win for any regular army. Moreover, no victory can be achieved against guerrilla fighters without great losses for which no logical justification may reasonably be found. It is therefore not surprising that the Quraysh was soon very tired of the new situation created by Abu Busayr, Abu Jandal and their men. They started appealing to the Prophet to take those guerrilla fighters into his fold and spare the Quraysh the trouble they created. Source: |
| Did You Know? |
Inventor of Self-Adhesive Stamp In the early 1990s, Alim Fatah, a Somalian born Muslim working as an employee for the US Post Office, invented the new self adhesive stamp. Source: |
