The Mercy Of Allah

O son of Adam, as long as you call upon Me and put your hope in Me, I have forgiven you for what you have done and I do not mind.
O son of Adam, if your sins were to reach the clouds of the sky and then you would seek My forgiveness, I would forgive you.
O son of Adam, if you were to come to Me with sins that are close to filling the earth and then you would meet Me without ascribing any partners with Me, I would certainly bring to you forgiveness close to filling it."(Hadith Qudsi)

In this Hadith Qudsi, Allah tells man of the greatness of His forgiveness and mercy so that no one would despair due to the amount of sins he may have committed. It displays the quality and attribute of Allahs mercy. Indeed, He is ar-Rahman(Most Compassionate), and ar-Raheem(Most Merciful). This is supported by the following verse of the Holy Quran:

Say: O My servants who have transgressed against their own souls, despair not of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Surah az-Zumar 39:53)

Allah catches the attention of mankind by calling out, O son of Adam! This is a call to every human being. Why didnt Allah say, O mankind or O People? The significance of this specific call is because Adam, the first human being, committed a sin. In fact, there is no single human on earth that did not sin! It is important to note that while Man was not created sinful, he was created weak. He is prone to fall into the temptations of sin and the whispers of Satan and when he does, he should always remember to turn to Allah, call upon Him, and ask for forgiveness with hope in Allah's mercy. Adam was an example to all humans of the consequences of sin and how to turn to Allah for the forgiveness of one's sins. Even after committing a violation, ones sins can be forgiven if one repents to Allah sincerely the same way that the father of mankind sinned, repented, and was forgiven by Allah.

Will they not repent to Allah and ask His forgiveness? For Allah is the Forgiving, the Merciful. (Surat al-Maaidah 5:74)

Lo! Allah is a Lord of Kindness to mankind, but most of mankind give not thanks. (Surat al-Baqarah 2:143)

Allah calls out to His servants, a call of forgiveness, mercy, and compassion. After calling out to mankind, Allah informs them that as long as they call on Him and put their hope in Him, He will forgive them. This statement alone can convince one to have hope and never to despair. When one calls out to Allah or makes dua, he is displaying his need and dependence of Allah. He is demonstrating his weakness to the fact that he has no power to do anything for himself. This is in the essence of Islam, which is submission and servitude. It is also a recognition of Allah's attributes of His kindness, generosity, forgiving and merciful nature, and His unlimited power and knowledge. Humans are never in a situation where they are not in need of Allah. A believer should always turns to Allah to ask for guidance as well as to seek forgiveness of sins and shortcomings. In another hadith Qudsi, Allah says:

I am with My servant as He expects of Me.

The meaning of this is that Allah treats His servants the way he expects Him to. If one has hope in Allah and trusts Him, Allah will act accordingly to that servants beliefs and faith. And if he does not have faith and is in despair of his Lords mercy, Allah will act accordingly. We should never lose hope or stop asking for Allah's forgiveness. In fact, repentance is such a great act of worship that doing it can totally erase ones sins altogether, as the Noble Prophet (s.a.w) said:
"One who repents from sins is like one without sin." (Hadith)

Take note that not having hope in Allah and despairing of His mercy is a great sin and an act of disbelievers, as mentioned in the Holy Quran:
Indeed, no one despairs of relief from Allah except the disbelieving people. (Surah Yusuf 12:87)

Everyone commits sin and does wrong, but Allah is always willing to forgive and He always gives them a chance to repent and seek His forgiveness. A believer should never forget that fact. Look at how great Allahs mercy, compassion, and love is!

And those who, when they commit a lewd act or wrong themselves with evil, remember Allah and ask forgiveness for their sins and who forgives sins except Allah? And they do not persist in what (wrong) they were doing while they knew it. For such, the reward is forgiveness from their Lord and Gardens with rivers flowing through, wherein they shall abide forever. How excellent is the reward of the doers (of good)! (Surah Ali Imran 3:135-136).

In this verse, mankind is encouraged to seek Allah's forgiveness and repent. There are two simple conditions of repentance, which must be met for one's repentance to be accepted.
-(1) Seek forgiveness from Allah
-(2) The person must feel remorse and guilt over his actions that and must immediately cease performing the wrong and sinful act.

Hope in the Mercy of Allah should be accompanied by regret and remorse of the heart upon the sins committed, sincerity, hastening in repentance and avoiding sins as is clearly manifest from the following verses of the Qur'aan. Allah says:
“And whosoever does evil or wrongs himself but afterwards seeks Allah's forgiveness, he will find Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [an-Nisa 4: 110]

Yahyaa Ibn Muaadh once said: "In my view, the worst kind of self-delusion is to greatly sin, yet hope for forgiveness without feeling any regret; and to hope to draw close to Allah - the Most High - without obedience to Him; and to await the fruits of Paradise, by planting the seeds for Hell-Fire; and to seek the abode of the obedient ones, by doing acts of disobedience; and to expect a reward, without doing any worthy action; and to hope in Allah - the Mighty and Majestic - after overstepping the bounds. You hope for salvation but do not tread its path. A ship never sails upon dry land."

My dear brothers and sisters, we need to remind ourselves of the Day of Judgement that we will be standing in front of our Lord and be questioned for our deeds. It will be a day in which not even the smallest action will be hidden. Seek forgiveness from Allah with sincere repentence! When a person sins and then sincerely turns to Allah for forgiveness, one will find Allah ready to accept his repentance and to forgive him.

"Those who say, Our Lord! We have indeed believed, so forgive us our sins and save us from the punishment of the Fire." [Ali Imran 3:16]

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Acknowledgement:
-Holy Quran
-Hadith
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Who is Allah?

The name "Allah" is a word that is heard quite often these days whether it is on the television or passed along in conversation. But most non-Muslims have no idea who Allah is. Just the name "Allah" is so shrouded in mystery because most people never take the time to unravel the meaning. Rather they believe what they see portrayed in the heavily biased media and allow their fears to take hold of their chests instead of seeking out the truth for themselves.

Some non-Muslims mistakenly believe that Allah is a holy deity or some sort of idol that Muslims worship similar to the way in which Buddhists worship Buddha. Others mistakenly think that Allah is an "Arab god," or a "moon god."

The meaning of Allah is so simple. Allah is the Arabic form of the word "The One True God". Muslims prefer to call God by His proper name, Allah, and refrain from using the word "god" itself since it can be attributed to so many other things. For example, in proper English, the feminine form of "god" is "goddess". Allah is a name that is neither feminine nor masculine, and it cannot be made plural (unlike god, gods, goddess, etc).

"Say, 'He is Allah, The One and Only;
Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;
He begets not, nor is He begotten;
And there is none like into Him." (Al Ikhlas 112:1-4)

Islam is the only religion on Earth that remained purely monotheistic. Islam is based on the concept of Tawhid, or Unity of God. Muslims are strictly monotheistic, and fiercely reject any attempt to make God visible or human. Islam rejects any form of idol worship, even if its intention is to get "closer" to God, and rejects the Trinity or any attempt to make God human.

Muslims believe that there is nothing in the heavens nor on earth that deserves worship except Allah, the One True Creator. The fundamental pillar of faith in Islam is to declare that "there is no deity worthy of worship except the One True Almighty God" (in Arabic: "La ilaha ill Allah"). Muslims believe that Allah is the One and Only God without partners and that the name "Allah" is unique to the sole Creator of this World and everything in it. In Islam, to liken Allah to another supposed god in any way shape or form is to commit the one unforgivable sin of shirk, which means to ascribe partners to Allah.

The Quran reveals that there are many Beautiful Names of Allah, and that is how Muslims get to know the Creator. Some of the names of Allah are:
Al-Wadud — The Loving
Al-Khaliq — The Creator
Al-Ahad — The One
Al-Aziz — The Mighty and Strong

Muslims pray directly to Allah, with no intermediary, and seek guidance from Him alone.

"When My servants ask thee concerning Me,
I am indeed close (to them):
I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calls on Me.
Let them also, with a will,
Listen to My call, and believe in Me,
that they may walk in the right way."
(Al Baqarah 2:186)

Allah is the Most Kind and the Most Merciful. All that Allah has asked for humans to do is to be pious, worship Him alone and be kind to our fellow man.

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Acknowledgment:
-Holy Quran
-Sumayyah Meehan


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Concept of Work in Islam

Islam lays great emphasis on work. In many places in the Quran it is made clear that time should not be wasted. The Quran directs a message to humanity that it should contribute positively to the earth, that is, that we should work to make use of what is created for our own benefit.

That man can have nothing but what he strives for.
(An-Najm 53:39)

In Islam, work is given special importance to the extent that it is considered as an act of worship in itself. Although some people believe that they are not obliged to work because they dedicate themselves to worshiping God, this is actually a wrong perception of the concept of worship. Jesus once saw a man who had completely devoted himself to worship. When he asked him how he got his daily bread, the man replied that his brother, who worked, provided him with food. Jesus then told him, “That brother of yours is more religious than you are” (The Book of Provision, Chapter 1). Al-Ghazali also mentions the Prophet’s Companion `Umar ibn Al-Khattab, who used to stress this point further by telling people, “Never should anyone of you think that du`aa’ (supplication) for sustenance without work will avail him, for heaven never rains gold nor silver.”

Islam is a religion that orders its followers to be part and parcel of a working and productive society. The Prophet Muhammad himself, who is considered a paragon of virtues in Islam, used to pray seeking God’s refuge from laziness or idleness. Even before he was chosen as a messenger of God, he was a hardworking person. This earned him the respect of his employer, Khadijah, who later proposed marriage to him because of all the merits and virtues she saw in him.

The best of people are those that bring the most benefit to the rest of mankind.(Hadith)

In his instructions to Muslims on this aspect, the Prophet Muhammad strikes a balance between worship and work. So, as Muslims have to be constant in their acts of worship, they also have to work hard to make a living. Also, in exhorting Muslims on the importance of work, the Prophet Muhammad made it clear that getting one’s sustenance from one’s work is one of the praiseworthy acts of worship. It is recorded in his traditions how he turned a man who came to him begging into a productive member of the society by teaching him how to work and provide for himself.

"I have only created Jinns and men, that they may worship Me" (Al Dhariyat 51:56)

Let us first define the word worship in this particular verse above. Islam is a religion of worshiping the Creator, with an essential part of that worship being working for survival. Also, this means that any actions for the sake of Allah, from being kind to our parents, to working or studying, or even walking to the nearby masjid, is a form of worship to Allah. A Muslim have a purpose in his life.

One of the scholars of Islam, Imam Hasan Al-Basri, was asked one day the secret behind his asceticism. The imam mentioned four things in reply: “One, I believe that my sustenance will never be hijacked by anybody (so I work to attain it). Two, I know that a work that is mine must be performed by me, so I do not decrease my efforts in performing it. Three, I believe that my Lord is Omnipresent (watching me), so I do not like Him seeing me committing sins. Four, I know that death is somewhere waiting for me, so I prepare for it (through good deeds).”

Say: "Truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death, are for Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds." (Qur'an, 6:162)

In this way, Islam lays down a practical framework for life by making these principles and guidance. Islam strives to eradicate social ills and vices that result from unemployment, idleness, and poverty, by instructing the youth to rise up to the challenge of shouldering responsibility at an early age, and also for the old not to give up their efforts in benefiting the society with their experience and working skills. Thus, the true message of Islam is not just for a Muslim to profess faith and do nothing for his or her society. Rather, Islam teaches that the true faith is what is demonstrated through sincere deeds that make a noticeable addition to the progress of society.

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Acknowledgement:
-Holy Quran
-Hadith
-Kamal Badr
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There is Good in Every Event

Every events that happen to a Muslim has a sort of goodness in it. Even if the events seem so much unfavourable and unbearable. Those who overcome such ordeals will recognise their weakness before Allah and reconsider how much they are in need of Him. They will turn to Allah with much humility through prayers and rememberence.

"It may well be that you dislike something in which Allah has placed a lot of good" (An-Nissa 4:19)

"It may be that you hate something when it is good for you and it may be that you love something when it is bad for you. Allah knows and you know not." (Al Baqarah 2:216)

A believer believes that Allah created the world to test mankind. As an inherent part of this examination, God test man sometimes with blessings and at other times with hardships. People who do not evaluate events in the light of the Quran, fail to give the appropriate intepretation to events, and become downhearted and fall into hopelessness.

A servant of God can have no real faith unless he believes in fate with its good and evil sides and knows that he cannot prevent anything that befalls him (good or evil) and he cannot catch anything that escapes from him (good or evil) [Hadith]

A believers believe that even if he can not eliminate the problem, he knows that Allah keep everything under His control. For this reason, he is content with Allah no matter what situation he encounters, he believe in His eternal compassion and mercy and put his trust in him. If Allah does not answer his call immediately, he certainly knows a greater goodness and beauty are hidden in this.
Believers have faith in fate and they know that the fate Allah creates is the best for them.

"So verily, with every difficulty there is relief. Verily, with every difficulty, there is relief." (Surah Al-Insyirah 94:5-6)

Nevertheless it does NOT mean that one "does not need to do anything and surrender his life to nothing". A point mentioned in the Quran about putting tust in Allah is talking measures. The Prophet Jacob advised his son to take measures while entering the city but afterwards he reminded them to place trust in Allah

"He said, "My sons! You must not enter through a single gate. Go in through different gates. But I cannot save you from Allah at all, for judgement comes from no one but Allah. In Him I put my trust, and let all those who put their trust, put it in Him Alone." (Surah Yusuf 12:67)

As seen in the words of the Prophet Jacob, believers take precautions, but they know they cannot change what God has willed for them. One example is that a student study hard to become a doctor. However even after all the hard work, he still didnt manage to become a doctor. Yet he should not be depressed. Perhaps there are much better jobs out there for him, such as teacher. And Allah knows best.

"Nothing occurs in the earth or in you, but as inscribed in the Book of Decree before We make it happen. That is easy for Allah. In order that you will not be grieved about the things that pass you by nor exult about the things that comes to you. God does not like any vain or boastful man" (Surah Al Hadid:22-23)

Life is a test, but just because Allah knows which way you are going to choose to take, that does not mean that He causes you to choose that path. For Allah created us with free will. And it is precisely because we were created with free will that life is a test.

Also it is important to take note that Allah, the Merciful, Compassionate and Just, creates ease in everything and test people within the limits of their strengths, as mentioned in many verse of the Holy Quran:

"No burden do We place on any soul, but that which it can bear." (Surah Al-An'am 6:152)
"No burden do We place on any soul, but that which it can bear." (Surah Al-A'raf 7:42)
"On no soul do We place a burden greater than it can bear.(Surah Al-Muminun 23:62)

When a painful situation occurs, my heart may ache badly, and tears may flow. But nevertheless, I will constantly bear in patience with a smile. This is the Islam way of life. =)

"Wondrous are the believers's affairs. For him there is good in all his affairs, and this is so ONLY for the believer. When something pleasing happens to him, he is grateful, and that is good for him; and when something displeasing happens to him, he is patient, and that is good for him." [Hadith Muslim]

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Acknowledgement:
-Holy Quran
-Hadith
-Harun Yahya

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An Invitation to the Truth

There is no compulsion for any man to accept the Truth. But it is certainly a shame upon the human intellect when man is not even interested in finding out to what is the truth!

Islam teaches that God has given man the faculty of reason and therefore expects man to reason things out objectively and systematically for himself. To reflect and to question and to reflect.

Nobody should press you to make a hasty decision to accept any of the teachings of Islam, for Islam teaches that man should be given the freedom to choose. Even when man is faced with the Truth, there is no compulsion upon man to embrace it.

Before anyone begin to form an opinion about Islam, ask yourself whether your existing knowledge of Islam is thorough enough. Ask yourself whether that knowledge has been obtained through non-Muslim third party sources who themselves have probably exposed to only random glimpses of Islamic writings and have yet to reason on Islam objectively and systematically themselves.

Is it fair that one should form an opinion about the taste of a particular dishes just by hearsay from others who may themselves not necessarily have tasted the dish yet? Similarly you should find out for yourself about Islam from reliable sources and not only taste it, but digest it well before you form an opinion. That would be an intellect approach of Islam.

It is up to you to make the next move, and in making ur move, Islam continuously reasssures you that your rights to freedom of choice and freedom to use that God given faculty of thought and reason will be respected. Every man has that individual will. No one else can take away that will and force you to surrender to the will of God. You will have to find out and make that decision yourself.

May your intellectual journey towards the truth be a pleasant one.

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Knowledge: The pleasure of learning

The very first of verse in the Quran revealed to mankind says:
"Read! In the name of Your Lord who created man from a clot of congealed blood.
Read! And Your Lord is the Most Generous who taught (the use) of Pen, taught men that which he knew not." (Al Alaq 96:1-5)

Imagine that. The first and foremost word by Allah is to "Read!"

Even our most beloved Prophet(s.a.w) encouraged the pursuit of knowledge. Below I list down some of my favourite hadith(Prophet's sayings) regarding knowledge:

-Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave
-God has revealed to me, 'Whoever walks in the pursuit of knowledge I facilitate for him the way of heaven
-The best form of worship is the pursuit of knowledge
-Acquire knowlege: it enables the possessor to distinguish right from the wrong, it lights the way to the heaven, it is our friend in the desert, our society in solitute, our companion when friendless - it guides us to happiness, it sustains us in misery, it is an ornament among friend and an armour against enemies.

From personal experience, I believe that the pleasure of learning is universal. However I note that there are many dull people in the world. Unfortunately, this was because due to some teachers in schools that made some subjects in school so boring and monotonous due to their bad teaching, isolation and following a routine life-style.

Nevertheless I believe that biologically, people possess the same basic instinct towards learning. The fact that learning is indeed a pleasure could be seen from an example of Archimedes. When he discovered the principle of specific gravity by observing his own displacement of water in a bath tub, he leaped put with great joy, and shouted, "Eureka, Eureka!" ("I have found it. I have found it!"). He was overwhelmed with joy and ran naked in town!
Of course, I wouldnt expect any of my readers to do the same. But the point is clear: Im sure we all are joyful when we manage to solve that difficult mathematics question in our secondary school life.

The natural pleasure of learning is inborn and instinctive and is one of the essential pleasures of the human race. Without learning, survival itself is threatened. It is said that the propagation of the human race might be endangered if the knowledge of sex through seeing, reading or hearing is withheld from everyone.

There are many people in this world who have played themselves to death, or eaten and drunk themselves to death. However nobody in the world ever died because of thinking or learning. People who avoid learning or abandon it, find no joy in life and find that life is drained by.

Are those equal, those who know and those who do not know? It is those who are endued with understanding that receive admonition. (Al Zumar 39:9)

"My Lord! Enrich me with knowledge!" (Ta Ha 20:114)

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Acknowledgement:
-Holy Quran
-Hadith
-Dr Ibrahim B.Syed Phd
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