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The Hereafter, Worthwhile Living, Custom of Women

Issue 321 » April 8, 2005 - Safar 28, 1426

General

Living the Quran

Al-Baqara (The Cow)
Chapter 2: Verse 46

Our Goal is the Hereafter
 "Who realize that they have to meet their Lord and that to Him they are destined to return"

Many people try to ride two boats at the same time and suffer in both ways. We should decide that we have to earn the Hereafter and only the Hereafter from the whole of this temporal life. And even when we seek to earn the world, that should also be in order that we might earn the Hereafter. If we do so, we will join the ranks of those "who realize that they have to meet their Lord and that to Him they are destined to return". We shall have attained that Khushu (submissiveness and humility) which is something so valuable that if we are devoid of it, no amount of knowledge will be of any avail. On the other hand, if we have khushu it will be easy for us to observe sabr (patience) and salah (Prayer). Both of these are the keys to all the good of this world and the Hereafter.

The secret of attaining taqwa - the token of a successful life - also depends upon our clearly deciding and resolutely persevering with the decision that our goal is the Hereafter. The underlying objective of all worldly concerns and preoccupations should be to earn the Hereafter. If we always keep the Hereafter in view, we shall not only attain taqwa but the blessings of this world and the Next shall also be ours. All kinds of blessings shall be showered upon us from every direction, we shall be free of every consternation, we shall be granted livelihood from the sources that are not even in the far reaches of our imagination. We shall also become the rightful inheritors of Paradise. In order to achieve this, we should keep the thought of death and the different stages through which one will have to pass in the Hereafter close to our heart.

Source:
"Dying and Living for Allah" - Khurram Murad, pp. 68-69

Understanding the Prophet's Life

Worthwhile Living

The Muslim community is not a community of people drawn together for any commercial or other material purpose. Fundamentally they are and remain a religious community, a brotherhood of faith, moved by an awareness of God, and of the Hereafter. This other-world consciousness has been emphasized over and over again by the letter and spirit of the Quran, and recounted endless times in the sayings of the Prophet. When he ordered the building of his Mosque, he said:

'I want it to be a simple building, like the thatching of my brother Moses. But in reality this world is more transient than would deserve even such a simple building - wa al-Amr a'jal min dhalik (the matter is more transient than that)'.

This other-world consciousness in Islam must not be lost sight of. The whole community must be made continually aware of it. The establishing of the prescribed five daily prayers, and the fact that they commence at dawn and finish at night is a most effective instrument for doing so. The very chant that the Prophet chose to sing and repeat while the Mosque was being built is a reminder of just this:

'O Lord! there is no worthwhile living but one oriented towards the Hereafter.'

Source:
"Sunshine At Madinah" - Zakaria Bashier, p. 78
Cool Concepts!

Beautiful Custom of Women

In his commentary to the hadith of Asma, in which she states that she serve her husband in many different ways, al-Nawawi wrote:

That is all part of the goodness and kindness that people follow. This is where the woman serves her husband in those things that she mentioned, such as preparing food, cooking, washing, clothing and so forth. This is all voluntary work on the part of a woman towards her husband and her good dealings with him. These are all good acts on her part. None of that is obligatory upon her. If she refused to do any or all of that, she would not be sinful. In fact, he must do those jobs for her and it is not permissible for him to force her to do any of them. This is what the woman does on a voluntary basis only. It is a beautiful custom that women have been following since the first generations until now. Only two things are obligatory upon the woman; keeping herself ready and prepared [sexually] for her husband and staying in his house.

Source:
"Commentary on the Forty Hadiht of al-Nawawi" - Jamaal al Din Zarabozo, p. 18