Friday Nasiha

Living The Quran

Life
Al-Waqiyah (The Indisputable Event) - Chapter 56: Verses 82-87

"And do you render due thanks to God for your provision by belying His promise of Resurrection? If that is so, then why do you not hold back the soul of the dying when it reaches the throat? Yet all the while you are helplessly looking on. Rather it is We alone who are, most surely, nearer to the one dying than you. But you do not see. Then why is it—if you are not to be summoned to Judgment as you allege—that you do not bring the soul back, if indeed you are truthful?"

Man has life. From where did it come? Then he dies. Who took it, and where does life go? If man is not to be brought back in a new life, as the bliers of God and Judgment in the Hereafter contend, then why are human beings unable to retrieve these souls from death? We still have possession of their physical likeness. It can only be that life come into our bodies from a Giver who withdraws it whenever He deems fit—and we are helpless to stop Him, even if we are present when a soul escapes its human housing—rather, when its Maker summons it from a place so near we cannot even see it. Surely, the One who makes and takes life can replace it, put it into a new form, or restore it in its old form, remade anew.

Compiled From:
"The Gracious Quran" - Ahmad Zaki Hammad, p. 266

From Issue: 865 [Read original issue]

Understanding The Prophet's Life

Great Forgiveness

Forgiveness means that Allah covers one's faults, removes one's sins and does not punish the person in the Hereafter. One of the most important things that a person can ask of Allah - after asking to be guided to the truth - is to ask forgiveness for one's sins and related matters, such as being rescued from the Fire and being entered into Paradise. This is what the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself said that his supplications were all about. [Abu Dawud]

The Messenger of Allah stated in a Hadith, "A slave committed a sin and said, 'O Allah, I have committed a sin, so forgive me.' Allah said, 'My slave knows he has a Cherisher who forgives sins. Therefore, I have forgiven my slave.'" [Bukhari] If every time he commits a sin he feels remorse and turns to Allah to forgive him, without having the intention to continue performing that sin, Allah, the exalted will be willing to forgive him. Such is the great forgiveness of Allah and His pleasure with His servants when they seek His forgiveness.

Compiled From:
"Commentary on the Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi" - Jamaal al-Din Zarabozo, p. 1312

From Issue: 950 [Read original issue]

Cool Tips!

Sense of Humour

One of the best things you can do for yourself when you fail is to learn to laugh. I love the comment made by a humourist who said he spoke for an organization where they always rated the previous meeting's speaker in their program using little bells. Speakers who received a standing ovation got four bells next to their name. Those who were above average got three. Merely average speakers got two bells, and poor speakers got one. The humourist said that when he spoke to them several months ago, they awarded him the no-bell prize.

There isn't a person alive who wouldn't benefit from a good laugh, especially when he's done something really stupid. When you take your mistakes too seriously, then everything seems to become life-and-death. When that happens, you sure die a lot. The way to solve that is to keep your sense of humour no matter how bad things get.

Compiled From:
"The Difference Maker" - John C. Maxwell, p. 156

From Issue: 751 [Read original issue]