Light Upon Light

 

Allah made every act of worship performed in salaah/namaaz a means of atonement for the (minor) sins committed, and also rewarded them with a special light for praying. In fact, salaah brings forth

•light and strength into the heart,
•increases the share of one’s provision in this life,

•inspires others to love the one who prays, and
•lets Angels and also the earth with its mountains, trees and rivers rejoice..

On the day of Judgement, when the believing servants of Allah meet their Lord, their salaah shall turn into light and transform into reward.

(—• Ibn al Qayyim al Jawziyyah)

 

Benefits of Dhikr

Benefits of Dhikr:

• Repels Shaytan, and humiliates him.
• Pleasing to Allaah.
• Removes sorrows and heartaches.
• Brings happiness and optimism to the heart.
• Brightens the heart and face.
• Increases one’s sustenance and blessings.
• Causes one to grow closer in love to Allah.
• Opens up a door of dialogue between the servant and the Lord.
• When done in fortunate circumstances, it’s repaid by Allah remembering him in less fortunate circumstances.
• Causes its practitioner to be kind and loving to others.

Summary of Wabil as-Sayyib by Ibn al-Qayyim

A Stolen Pound

‘The condition of the one who relies on Allah is like the condition of the one who is given a pound by a King, then it gets stolen from him; so the King says to him: “I have many times as much as that, so don’t worry. When you come to me, I will give you much more than that from my treasures.”

Thus if this person knows the truthfulness of the king’s statement, and trusts him, and knows that his treasures are full of that, then what he missed will not make him sad.’ –

Imam ibn al Qayyim

Until He Enters Jannah

Imam Ibn ul-Qayyim رحمه الله  
“If Allah wants well for a slave, He strips away from his heart the ability to see his own good deeds and speaking about them with his tongue, and preoccupies him with seeing his own sin, and it continues to remain in front of his eyes until he enters jannah.”

[Tareeq Al- Hijratain,1/168-169]

A Special Effect

Before you make du’aa it’s worth knowing: 
“Invoking Allah’s name al-Qayyum has a special effect in answering du’aas and ending afflictions.” —• 

Ibn al-Qayyim, Prophetic Medicine (p. 257)

Treating others well.

“There is nothing more beneficial for the heart than treating people well and wanting good for them. If you do this, you will gain the love and affection of strangers; you will maintain the companionship and love of friends; and your kindness will extinguish the fire of hatred raging in the breast of your enemy…”

“The person who treats others kindly and thinks well of them, will find that his intention will remain true, he will feel at ease, his heart will be sound and Allah will protect him from evil and calamity.”

Imam ibn al Qayyim (rahimahullah) ~ Madarij al-Salikeen 2/511

Be Merciful, Good and Give the Best of Yourself to Others

“You get the best out of others when you give the best of yourself.” ~ Harvey S. Firestone

❝The believers whose faith is close to perfection are the ones who show greatest mercy❞ Ibn al-Qayyim, in: Ighathat al-Lahfan 2/913

“Allah will never forget goodness that you put forth, a worry that you relieved from someone, or happiness that you brought to someone’s sad heart. Be good to others even if you yourself are not greeted with good. It’s not for them but rather for Allah as He loves those who do good.” Shaykh Arefe

“The problem is not with my Lord.”

   Ibn al-Qayyim related from al-Jariri:

 “I was told of a man from the Children of Israel who had a need that he wanted fulfilled by Allah.So, he engaged in constant worship and then asked Allah for his need. When he did not see that his need was fulfilled, he spent the night blaming himself, saying: “O self! What is wrong with you that is preventing your need from being fulfilled?”

And he spent the night sad and holding himself to account, saying: “By Allah, the problem is not with my Lord. Rather, the problem is with myself,” and he remained in such a state of holding himself responsible until his need was finally taken care of.”

[‘Ighathat al-Lahfan’; 1/77]

Taken from our imprisoned brother Tarek Mehannas benenficial blog:

http://iskandrani.wordpress.com/2008/12/20/the-problem-is-not-with-my-lord/

may Allah hasten his release and reunite him with his beloved family ameen

The Secret to Having Supplications Answered

  “…And I often find that people supplicate with certain prayers and have their prayers answered, and they couple their supplication with their neediness and turning towards Allah, or a good deed they carried out that caused Allah to respond to this supplication out of gratitude for this good deed, or they happened to supplicate at a time in which it is more likely to be accepted, etc. So, his supplication was answered because of this.

One might think that the secret was in the specific wording of his supplication, and might therefore approach it simply from this angle while ignoring all of these other things that were coupled with it by the person supplicating. This is like someone who uses beneficial medicine at its proper time and in the proper manner and it benefits him as a result, and someone else thinks that simply using this medicine regardless of these other factors will bring about the same benefit. This person is wrong, and this is where many people fall into error.

An example of this is when a needy person supplicates near a grave. So, the ignorant one thinks that the secret of his supplication being answered lies in this grave, and he doesn’t know that the real secret is in his neediness and full dependence on Allah. So, if this happens in a House from the Houses of Allah, this would be better and more beloved to Allah.

And supplications and prayers of refuge are like weapons, and a weapon is only as effective as the one using it, not just based on how sharp it is. So, as perfect and flawless a weapon is, as strong as the arm is that is using it, as much as there is nothing to nullify its effectiveness – the more damaging it will be against the enemy. And whenever one of these three elements is absent, the effect will be held back.

So, if the supplication itself is not good, or the one supplicating does not have both his heart and tongue present when making it, or there is some element present to prevent it from being answered, it will have no effect…”

[‘ad-Da’ wad-Dawa”; p. 40-41] Translated by Tarek Mehanna – may Allah keep our beloved brother steadfast, hasten his release from prison and may Allah allow Tareks final abode to be firdaws. ameen ya rabb,

Exchanging Allahs Blessing…

“From the greatest of sins which are hidden – and widely practiced – is that the servant is enjoying a blessing that Allah has blessed him with and chosen for him, then that servant becomes bored of it and seeks to exchange it for what he thinks – due to his ignorance – is better for him than it, and His Lord continues to be merciful to him and does not prevent him from this blessing, and He excuses him due to his ignorance and this bad choice that he has chosen for himself. When he reaches the limit in scorning this blessing and his boredom with it overcomes him, Allah removes this blessing from him. So, if he is given what he sought in exchange for that blessing, and he sees the immense difference between what he was previously enjoying and and what he has now been given instead of it, his anxiety and regret increase and he requests a return to what he previously had. So, if Allah desires good and guidance for His servant, He allows him to bear witness that what he had was a blessing from the blessings of Allah upon him, and He causes him to become pleased with that blessing and to give thanks to Allah for it. If his soul then whispers to him to again seek to exchange that blessing for something else, he makes istikharah to His Lord, the istikharah of the one who is ignorant of what is in his best interests and unable to attain them. He turns his affairs to Allah, requesting of Him to help him make the best decision.

And there is nothing more harmful to the servant than to become bored of the blessings of Allah, because he does not see it as a blessing, and he does not thank Allah for it, and does not become happy because of it. Rather, he belittles it, complains about it and considers it to be a disaster – all this while it can well be from the greatest of Allah’s blessings upon him.

Most people have a feeling of enmity towards Allah’s blessings upon them, and they do not percieve that this opening that Allah has given them is actually a blessing, and they exert the utmost effort in repelling it and pushing it away out of ignorance and oppression. So, how many are those whom Allah’s blessings comes to one of them, and they rise to repel and fight against it? And how many are those whom the blessing comes to one of them and he strives to push it away and brush it to the side out of ignorance and oppression?

Allah – the Exalted – says: {“And this is because Allah would not change a blessing that He has blessed a people with unless they change what is within themselves.”} [al-Anfal; 53] 

The one who is devoid of logic loses his chance * Until the affair passes him by. Then, he blames predestination.”

[‘al-Fawa’id’; p. 248]

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