Islam-Submission to Allah

When Umar ibn Abdul Aziz became caliph, he wrote to Hasan al-Basree to write him the description of a just Imaam, and Hasan wrote him:

“Know, commander of Believers, that God has made the just Imaam the prop of every learner, the straightener of every deviator, the reform of all corrupt, the strength of all weak, the justice of all oppressed, the refuge of all who are pitied. The just Imaam, O commander of Believers, is like a herdsman, solicitous for the camels he tends, desiring the sweetest pasture for them, driving them away from any dangerous grazing place, protecting them from beast of prey, and shielding them from the harms of heat and cold.

And the just Imaam, commander of the Believers, is the guardian of the orphan, and the treasury of the poor, fostering the little ones, and providing for the old ones. The just Imaam, Commander of Believers, is as the heart is to the members of the body: all are sound when it is sound, and all corrupt when it is corrupt. The just Imaam, commander of Believers, stands intermediary between God and His servants; hearkening to God’s words, and making them hearken; looking to God, and making them to look; obedient to God and making them obedient.

Therefore commander of Believers, act not in what God the Mighty and Glorious has given you like a slave whose master has trusted him and given into his care his wealth and his children, who then squanders his master’s wealth and drives his children away, and reduces the family to poverty and scatters their fortune.

And know, commander of the Believers, that God has sent down (His prescription for) the legal punishments to chide (people) away from wickedness and immorality. How shall it be, if he who administers them, deserves them? And He sent down (the law of) retaliation to give life to His servants. How will it be if the man who gives them retaliation puts them to death?

Remember, O commander of Believers, death and what comes after it, and how few partisans you have there, or aids against it. Therefore make provision for death, and against the greater terror which follows it.

And know, commander of Believers, that there is a place for you other than the place where you are now. Your stay there will be long, and your friends will be separated from you. You will be committed to its depths as a completely solitary individual. Therefore, make provision of what you may take with you - ‘On the day when a man shall flee from his brother, his mother, his father, his consort, his sons’ (80:36), and remember, commander of Believers, ‘When that which is within the tombs shall be cast out, and that which is in the breasts exposed‘ (100:9), when secrets are made manifest, and ‘The record leaves nothing, great or small, without numbering it’ (18:49).

And now, commander of Believers, you are in leisure, before the dissolution of death and the serving of hope. Therefore commander of Believers, do not give judgement among the servants of God according to the usages of pre Islamic period (bi hokum al jahilan), and do not travel the way of transgressors with them, and do not put he arrogant in power over the humble, for such will not watch over any believer or the protected religious groups (dhimma), so that you will have to acknowledge your own faults and the faults of others, and bear your own burdens and other burdens too. Do not be deceived by those who would lead a pleasant like by causing damage to you, and eat the good things of this world by causing the good things of your afterlife to disappear. And do not regard your power in this world, but look toward what will be your power when you are captive in the bonds of death, and forced to stand before God Most High in the company of the angels and prophets and apostles, and faces are turned to the Living and Self-subsisting One.

And I, O commander of Believers, though I have not attained by my rigors what prudent men attained before me, yet have not desisted from offering you solicitude and advice, sending you my letter as a doctor causes a beloved friend to drink disagreeable medicine, because he hopes to offer him health and soundness.

And peace be upon thee, O commander of the Believers, and the mercy of God, and His blessing.”

[Source: Williams (1971), Themes of Islamic Civilisation, from, Al Iqd al Farid, Cairo, 1953]

Allah Knows Best

In the name of Allah most gracious most merciful
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatuallahi wa barakatuhu

25 Rules Of Being Close To Allah

1. Start off each day with ‘adhkaar al-istiyqaadh’ (waking up Supplications), thanking Allah for waking up in good shape.

2. Put Allah first in your life.

3. Broaden your horizons - learn 5 new verses from the Quran every day, travel to pray far in the mosque to brighten your day,take up a booklet having supplications and read them.

4. Pray Salaat Al-dhuhaa (after sunrise).

5. If someone says something mean ;to you, just shrug it off and dismiss it in a friendly, laidback manner, and pray that Allah shall forgive them.

6. When you get angry, remember Allah, and how short and worthless life is to waste in being Angry.

7. Remember that you can never have too many friends, but you can have few quality friends that help you fulfill the purpose of your creation (i.e. live for Allah).

8. When you’re happy, try to share your happiness with others. Thank Allah for that, and pray its continuation.

9. When something bad or embarrassing happens to you, just think that it could always be worse, remember the reward of patience,and thank Allah that it’s not worse than it is.

10. Do something extra of goodness once in a while, like feeding a poor person, or caressing an orphan’s head.

11. Never stop believing that you can win Allah’s love and thus work For it. Then you can win the love of Allah’s slaves.

12. Spend some time thinking of Allah’s amazing creation.

13. Always love those who love Allah unconditionally. This way you will ensure that you live for Him, love for Him, and hate for Him(those who are enemies of Him).

14. Find the righteous ways to express yourself, and if you think that what you are about to say shall cause no benefit, maintain
silence (this is tough!!).

15. Every now and then, give yourself a break. Play sports, give time to your family, friends, but always remember Allah and watch that He is watching you.

16. Pray for blessing to come to those being lost, and pray to Allah to guide them to the right path.

 17. Hug your parents, kiss their hands and heads and always obey but stop at Allah’s orders.

18. Smile to everyone, for your smile makes a big difference to him or her and you are rewarded.

19. Forgive, forget and smile.

20. Tears are not for women only… tears are for all human beings with feelings remaining in them. Don’t restrain your tears when remembering Allah.

21. When people criticize your actions and effort, revise your actions and see if they please Allah or no. If they do; then ignore
and remember how the Prophet (SAAW) and the Sahaba were criticized, made fun of and even physically harmed, so have patience.

22. Read the Quran daily and try to have a schedule for completing it as much as you could. As you open the Quran daily, read with observing not just passing your eyes through the words.

23. Don’t let popularity go to your head, for it never lasts and you may lose from it more than gain.

24. Never look down on anybody, for, to Allah, they may be better than you.

25. Send this to every person with the intention of having a healthy society living for Allah and pray..
 

Allah Knows Best

In The Name Of Allah Most Gracious Most Merciful
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatuallahi wa barakatuhu

50 Questions And Answers On Islamic Monotheism

Q1 Who is your Rubb? (the Lord ,the Creator etc).
A. My Rubb is Allah Who has created me and a ll that exists. He nourishes me an d all creatures by His Bounties .

Q.2. What is your religion?
A. My religion is Islam, which is submi ssion and obedience to the Order oF Allah and His Messenger with love, hope and fear.

Q.3. How did you know Allah?
I know Him by His signs and creation like the day and night; the sun and the moon; the heaven and the earth, and all that is there in and between them.

Q.4. Where is Allah?
A. Allah is above the heavens raised over the Throne and separated from His creatures.

Q.5. Is Allah with us (in person)?
A. Allah is settled over His Mighty Throne , but He is with us by His Knowled ge, hearing ,seeing and other attributes. As He said: “Fear not verily! I am with you both hearing and seeing (V,20. :46)

Q.6. Who are the friends of Allah?
A. Those people are the friends of Allah who are pio us and righteous, fear Him much abstain from a ll kinds of sins and perform all kinds of goods, and hold fast to the Qur`an and Sunnah.

Q. 7. How do you worship Allah?
A. I worship Allah in a manner in which all my ibadah is dedicated to Him Alone. I do not ascrib e anyone with Him in worship.

Q-8. Why did Allah send Messengers?
A. Allah has sent Messengers so that th ey call the people to worship Him Alone, not ascribing any partner with Him, and in order that mankind should have no plea a gainst Allah.

Q-9 What is the meaning of Islam ?
A. Islam means i.e. submission to Allah with Tawhid .

Q-10 What are the pillars of Istam?
A. 1. Testimony of Faith (There is no true God except A llah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah )
2. To establish Salat (prayers).
3. To pay Zakat.
4. To observe Saum (fasting) in Ramadan.
5. Hajj (pilgrimage to the Sacred House) if one can afford the journey .

Q-11 What is Iman?
A. Iman (Faith) means to believe in the heart, to confess by the tongue and to a ct with the parts of the body.

Q-12 Can there be any variation in Iman?
A. By some words and deeds it may increase and by some words and deeds it may decrease .

Q-13 What do you mean by in crease and decrease in Iman?
A- Iman (Faith) increases by obedience to All ah and good deeds while it decreases by sins and evil acts.

Q-14 What are the pillars of Iman (Faith)
A. The pillars of Iman are six i.e. to bel ieve in:
1. Allah.
2. His Angels.
3. His Messengers.
4. His Books.
5. The Last Day.
6. Divine Preordainments good or bad.

Q-15 What is Belief in Allah?
A. The Belief in Allahi is that you should belie ve that Allah is the Sole Creator Sustainer Provider and the One in Whose Hand is the disposal of all affairs. Everything stands in need of Him, but He stands in need of none. He is the Only One Who is worthy of being worshipped . He has the Best Names and Perfect Attributes.

Q-16 Who are the angels?
A. The angels are creatures of light. They are Allah ’s obedient slaves, they do that which they are commanded and are incapab le of disobedience.

Q-17 What do you mean by Belief in the Book and the Messengers?
A. It means that Alla h sent the Messengers like Moses, Jesus ,Abraham. Noah etc. and sent down the books like the Torah, Injeel, Zaboor (Psalms) etc. to call the peop le to worship Allah Alone, associating nothing with Him. He sealed (finalized) the Messengers with Prophet Muhammed and abrogated all previous books with the Qur’an. Th erefore the worship should be done according to the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet .

Q-I8 What is meant by Beli ef in the Last Day?
A. The Belief in th e Last Day means to believe that Allah has ordained a fixed term for ev erything, and a term for this world . He will assuredly raise the dead from their graves and will account for everyon e their deeds in this world. On that Day of Resurrection, rewards and punishments wil l be assigned. Every one will be justly rewarded or punished .

Q-19 What is meant by Belief Preordainment (Qadar)?
A. The Belief in Preordainment ( Qadar) means to believe that everything � good or bad � happens or takes place accordi ng to what Allah has ordained for it. He has created everything in due proportion.

Q-20 What is the meaning of “There is no God but Allah”?
A. It means there is no true deity except Allah Alone , Negating all false gods and aff irming that Allah is the only true God.

Q-21 What is the meaning of ^Muhammad is the Messen ger of Allah”?
A. It means total submission to him in whatever he ordered, and avoiding what he forbade and believing i n all those matters he informed us about.

Q-22 What are the conditions of the t estimony of Faith?
A. There are seven conditions of the testimony of Faith:
1- Knowledge whick negates ignorance.
2- Certainty which negates doubt.
3- Sincerity and purity of intent which negates Shirk.
4- Truthfulness which negates hypocrisy.
5- Love and devotion which negates disdain of Allah`s religion.
6- Submission which negates disobedince.
7- Acceptance which negates rejection or denial.

Q-23 What is the greatest thing that Allah has enjoined?
A. The greatest thing Allah has enjoined is Tauhid (Monotheism).

Q-24 What is Tauhid (Islamic Monotheism)?
A. Tauhid means declaring Allah to b e the only God who deserves to be worshipped in truth and confirming all attributes with which He has qualified Himself or that are attributed to Him by His Messenger .

Q-25 What ar e the aspects of Tauhid?
A. There are three aspect s of Tauhid:
1- Tauhid-ar-Rububiyah.
2- Tauhid-al-Uluhiyah.
3-Tauhid-al-Asma was-Sifat.

Q- 26 What is Tauhid-ar-Rububiyah?
A. I t is declaring Allah to be One and Unique in His work, Iike creation, sustena nce, bringing to life and causin g death etc.

Q-27 What is Tauhid-al-Uluhiyah?
A. It is declaring A llah as the Onl y God to whom all acts worship must be dedicated such salat (prayers) , Zakat, Sawm(fasting), supplications vowing etc.

Q-28 What is Tauhid-al-Asma was-Sifat?
A. It is an affirmation of all the Divien Names an d Attributes of Allah in a manner that suits His Majesty, as mentioned in the Qur’an and the Sunnah.

Q-29 How would you describe Ibadah?
A. It is a comprehensive word comprising deeds and words that Allah loves and is ple ased with whether manifested or hidden,

Q-30 Wha t are the conditions of Ibadah?
A. There are two conditions of Ibadah:
1. Sincerity to A llah.
2. Submission to Al lah’s Messenger i.e. to act according to his Sunnah.

Q-31 Write some types of Ibadah.
A. Some types of Ibadah are the prayers , the obligatory charity,
fasting, the p ilgrimage, fear of Alla h, hope in His Mercy, Seeking Hi s aid. and other acts of worship which Allah has commanded and enjoined.

Q-32 Wha t is the greatest thing Allah has forbidden?
A. The great est thing Allah has forbidden is Shirk (polytheism).

Q-33 Wha t is polytheism?
A. It means to believe that there is one who shares Allah in His acts i.e. ascribing partners or setting up rivals to Allah in His rights.

Q-34 What are the types of polytheism?
A. There are three types of polytheism:
1. The greater polytheism (Shirk Akbar).
2. The lesser po lytheism (Shirk Asghar).
3. The inconspicuous polytheism (Shirk Khafi).

Q-35 What is greate r polytheism?
A. The greater polytheism is to devote any form of worship to other than Allah A llah will never forgive one who dies upon Shirk,nor accept his good deeds , and he woul d be cast out from the folds of Islam.

Q-36 What ar e the types of greater po lytheism?
A. There are four types of great er polytheism:
1- The pol ytheism in invocation i.e . involving supplications to other than Allah.
2. The polyth eism in intentions i.e. purpose and inten tions not for the sake of Allah but directed towards other deities .
3, The polytheism in obedien ce i.e . rendering obedience to any authority aga inst the Order of Allah .
4. The potytheism in love i.e showing love to others which is due to Allah Alone.

Q-37 What is l esser polytheism?
A. The lesser polytheism is Ar-Riya, that means the acts of worship done to gain praise or fame rather than to please Allah, this type of polytheism, however, does not cast the person committing it out of the fold of Islam.

Q-38 What is inconspicuous polytheism?
A. The inconspicuous polytheism implies being diss atisfied with the conditions ordained by Allah.

Q-39 What is the proof of the inconspicuous polyth eism?
A.The proof of the above
Shirk is the saying of the Prophet “The inconspicuous polytheism is more hidden among this nation than the track of a black ant over a black stone on a dark night ” (Musnad Ahmad)

Q-40 What are the types of Kufr (disbelief)?

A. There are two types of Kufr :
1. The major
Kufr which cast its people out of Islam,
2. The lessor cr minor
Kufr which does not cast the one who commits it out of Islam. It is Kufr of ungratefulness.

Q-41 What are t he types of major Kufr?

A. There are five types of major Kufr :
1. The Kufr of denial.
2. The Kufr of arrogance associated with recognition of the truth.
3. The Kufr of doubt.
4-. The Kufr of disregard,
5. The Kufr of hypocrisy.

Q-42 What are the categories of hypocrisy ?
A. There are two categ ories of hypocrisy:
1. Hypocrisy in Belief.
2.Hypocrisy in deeds and actions.

Q-43 What is the hypocrisy in Belief?
A. Hypocrisy in Belief is of six types:
1. Denial of the Messenger .
2. Denial of the thing with which the Messenger is sent .
3. Hating the Messenger
4.Hating the thing with which the Messenger is sent .
5. Rejoicing at the disgrace of Islam.
6. Disliking the prevalence of Islam.

Q-44 What is the hypocrisy in deeds and actions?
A. The hypocrisy in deeds and actions is of fi ve types:
1- When he speaks, he lies.
2- When he promises., he breaks it.
3. When he is entrusted, he betrays.
4. When he disputes, he acts immorally .
5. When he makes a pact, he makes acts treacherously.

Q-45 Are good deeds accepted (by Allah) with the po lytheism?
A. Never! None of the deeds are accepted when mixed with polytheism .
Allah says: ” If they had joined in worship others with Allah all that they used to do would ha ve been of no benefit to them” (V .6: 88)
“Verily! Allah for gives not setting up partners in worship with Him, but He forgives whom He p leases sins other than that” ‘(V .4:116)

Q-46 What are the nullifiers of Islam ?
A. The nullifiers of Islam are ten:
1. Polytheism of worship.
2. He who does not believe that the polytheists are d isbelievers, or doubts their infidelity or holds their be lief to be valid.
3. He who sets up intermediaries between one’ s self and Allah, supplicating them , trusting them and asking them to intercede on his behalf.
4. He who believes that the guidance of others is more perfect than the Prophet .
5. He who hates anything that the Prophet was sent with.
6. He who denies the religion of the Prophet or ridicules its reward or punishment.
7. Sorcery.
8. Su pporting the polytheists against the Musl ims.
9. He who be lieves that some peopl e are exemp ted from abiding by the Shari`ah as Khidr was exempted by the laws of Musa.
10. Turning away from the r eligion of Allah by neither learning nor applying it.

Q- 47 Wha t are the three fundamentals that eve ry Muslim must learn?
A. The three fundamentals are:
I, Knowing Your Rubb (the Lord , the Creator, the Sustainer, and the One in Whose Hand is the disposal of all affairs).
2. Knowing your religion (Islam) .
3. Knowing your Prophet Muh ammad

Q-48 What is Taghut?
A. Everything that is worsh ipped. or followe d or obeyed other than Allah is Taghut.
Q-49 How many Taghut are there and who are th eir lea ders?
A. They are many bu t their leaders are Five :

Q. 50 -Who are the leaders of Taghut ?
A. They are:
1. Satan, may Allah curse him ,
2. Anyone who is worshipped with his consent.
3. A person who calls th e people to be worshipped instead of Allah.
4. A person who cl aims the knowledge of Ghaib (unseen , hidden, invisible , absent etc).
5.Th e ruler who rules by laws other than the law sent down by Allah.

Allah Knows Best