Satisfied Heart, Safety in Silence, Why Disagreement?
Issue 337 » July 29, 2005 - Jumada-al-Thani 22, 1426
General
| Living the Quran |
Al-Rad
(The Thunder) Satisfied Heart
It is only human beings who were given the freedom of choice to submit to the will of Allah or to follow their own desires. The real difference between a Muslim and a non-Muslim is that Muslims remember Allah, their Creator, and bow down to Him in submission. By these acts, Muslims achieve complete harmony with the entire universe and are at peace with themselves. This gives satisfaction of heart. This Dhikr (remembrance) has to be at three levels.
Through Dhikr we establish our relationships with Allah. This is the source of our strength. Dhikr acts as a regulator and a control mechanism in our lives. Remembrance of Allah keeps us on the Straight Path. Source: |
| Understanding the Prophet's Life |
| Safety lies in Silence One loses sense in talking absurdities and aimlessly. Those who want to impress others in meetings by their talk, they speak so fluently and endlessly that the words come out from their mouth like rainwater. Although they try to convince others that they are very wise, intelligent and farsighted, but sometimes the impression created by their long-winding speeches is quite the contrary, and from their talks people feel that there is no relation between what they want the people to believe about them and what actually they are. When a man wants to contemplate over his position and wants to organize his religious thoughts, he runs away from the atmosphere of noise and uproar and takes shelter in a quiet place. And therefore if Islam recommends silence and considers it a means of civilized training, then it is not at all surprising. The Prophet had, among other things, advised Abu Dhar in this way: “Adopt silence. This is a way of causing Satan to run away, it is a support to you in the matter of your religion." (Ahmed) Undoubtedly the tongue is a rope in the hands of Satan. He turns it anywhere he likes. When a man is unable to control his affairs, his mouth becomes a passage for all the negative talk which contaminates the heart and covers it with the sheet of negligence. The prophet has said: "The faith of a man cannot be straight unless his heart is straight, and his heart cannot be straight unless his tongue becomes straight." (Ahmed) The first stage of this straightness and correctness is that man should wash his hands off all the irrelevant matters and he should not interfere in those things about which he is not answerable. "It is the excellence of a man's faith that he gives up meaningless work." (Tirmidhi) Source: |
| Blindspot! |
| Why The Disagreement? Umar ibn al Khattab once wondered, while sitting alone, why people who follow one Prophet and turn their faces to the same qiblah in salah are tormented with disagreement. Umar then sent for Ibn Abbas and asked him: "Why should this Ummah be tormented by disagreement when it has the same Prophet, the same qiblah and the same book?" Ibn Abbas answered: "The Quran was revealed and we read it and comprehended the reasons for its revelation. But there will come people who will read the Quran and fail to understand the occasions and subjects of revelation. As a result they will make different interpretations and will, therefore, disagree." Ibn Abbas added: "Every group of people will have an opinion about the Quran, which will lead to disagreement, and then to fighting." But Umar and Ali, who was also present, did not like this gloomy explanation and they reproached Ibn Abbas. But no sooner had Ibn Abbas left than it occurred to Umar that there might be some truth in what he said. He sent for Ibn Abbas again and asked him to reiterate what he had told them earlier. After careful consideration, Umar recognized and appreciated what Ibn Abbas said. Al Shatibi wrote: Ibn Abbas was right. When a person knows the reason behind a certain verse or surah, he knows how to interpret it and what its objectives are. However, ignorance of that leads people to misinterpret it and to have different opinions, without an insight and knowledge which could lead them to the truth and prevent them from indulging ignorantly in such matters with no support or evidence, and therefore go astray and lead people astray. Source: |
