Birds : A Lesson For You And Me

The other night I had some old stale bread left over. Although we dont get very many birds in our backyard this time of the year, I didnt want to waste any food so I crumbled it up into tiny pieces and threw it in the back yard for the birds without paying much attention to it. And I would have forgotten all about it if I hadnt heard the loud cawing of a crow the next morning, right after sunrise.

Caw! Caw!




It was so loud and persistent that I simply had to look out the window, wondering what all the commotion was about, having forgotten all about the bread crumbs from the night before.

And there it was.... a crow so excited, so delighted, quickly pecking at the bread crumbs while also eagerly calling his friends to join him in his recently discovered, grand breadcrumb feast!

And sure enough, within seconds, at least 10, 15 more crows had joined him and were swiftly pecking at the crumbs with their tiny beaks.

I watched in amazement, entranced, at this fascinating sight and within minutes, all the breadcrumbs were gone, wiped clean as if they never existed.

Subhaan Allaah !

These crows had absolutely no idea that these crumbs were in my backyard the night before. Yet only a few hours later they were there, pecking at them until they had their fill and then they were all gone.

Who fed them ?
Who told them where to go for their rizq ?
Who told them that my backyard had food waiting for them?

It's only Allaah Subhaanahu wa Taala, Ar-Razzaq, the One Who provides for the crows and for me and you.

The Prophet (pbuh) said:

"If only you relied on Allah a true reliance, He would provide sustenance for you just as He does the birds: They fly out in the morning empty and return in the afternoon with full stomachs."(Ahmad, Tirmidhi, others)

And have you ever seen how birds fly? I mean, really seen them fly with the eyes of your heart?

How these incredible flying machines soar through the sky, spreading their wings so gracefully gliding from one tree to another?

Who holds them up in space like that without them falling to earth?
Who taught them to fly and flap their wings like that?
Who told them to fly south in winters and migrate to unknown places?

Have you ever wondered about that?

"Do they not see the birds held (flying) in the midst of the sky? None holds them up but Allaah. Verily, in this are clear proofs and signs for people who believe." (Surah an-Nahl: 79)




And have you seen how they gather every morning and every evening on poles and wires, all lined up neatly right next to each other. So close to one another, bird after bird, literally hundreds of them, all chirping in unison, joining each other in this wonderful air orchestra extravaganza?!!




Why do they gather like that every day, day in and day out?

What do they say?

"The seven heavens and the earth and all that is therein, glorify Him and there is not a thing but glorifies His Praise. But you understand not their glorification. Truly, He is Ever Forbearing, Oft-Forgiving." (al-Israa: 44)

Subhaan Allaah.

Singing the praise of their Lord. What an honor!

Have you ever reflected on what an amazing creation of Allaah all these birds are ?

These birds are a sign.....a sign for people who understand and take heed. They are signs among the signs of the Lord of the heavens and the earth, our Rabb, the Creator, Controller, Sustainer of everyone and everything.
A bird flies because Allaah is the One who holds it in up the air. It migrates along mysterious routes because it follows Allaahs plan.

Its flight is part of its glorification of its Creator.

It gathers on poles and wires every day because it is glorifying Allaah. Its glorification is part of the duty that Allaah has created it for.

It finds food for itself in places it doesnt even know existed, because it is Allaah that is providing it.
And this is part of the trust, the tawakkul, that the bird places in his Lord, his Sustainer.

Now the questions to ask oneself are

If these little birds can have such tawakkul in Allaah, why cant we ?
If these tiny birds can fly like that and obey Him like they are supposed to, why dont we ?
If they can sing the praises of their Lord and worship Him in the manner that they are taught, why arent we ?






Surely in this is an ayah for the one who understands.

Our job is to worship Allaah alone. If we can do that job, even a fraction as well as these birds do, you never know, we might just be fortunate enough to fly with them to Jannah.

Keep patience…!

O you who believe! Seek help in patience and As-Salat (the prayer). Truly! Allah is with As-Sabirun (the patient). [Quran 2.153]

Aey eman walo! Sabar aur namaz k zariye(mujh se) madad chaha karo, Yaqeenan Allah sabar kerney waalon ke sath (hota) hai. [Quran 2.153]

The Perfect Home

I sit in my room looking at all the boxes around me. Some are packed with my clothes, some with shoes and some are empty. So far, I’ve only packed one of my closets and I’m already running out of boxes. Ironically, even though I’ve started packing, I have no idea where I am going to move. My husband and I have been looking for a new home for three months now but we haven’t found anything that we like yet and we have to move out in two weeks.

Just thinking about this made me realize how much time and effort we are putting into finding “the perfect home.” We want it to have a certain number of bedrooms and bathrooms. The appliances in the kitchen have to be amazing. We want hardwood floors and a lot of open space. Subhanallah, we have so many demands for a home we are going to live in only for a year or two! This is not even going to be our permanent home. It is simply a temporary dwelling; yet we are putting all our energy and efforts to make sure it is just right.

But what about our actual permanent home, the one in the akhira? How often do I sit and ponder about what I want it to look like and how I want it to be? How much effort do I put into making that home just right?

Our permanent homes are not in this dunya and the fact is that almost everyone knows this. Yet despite having this knowledge, we live in this world as though we will be here forever and we don’t give enough thought to the homes we will live in for eternity.

Certainly, Allah ta’ala has revealed to us the certainty of death, the certainty of the afterlife, the certainty that we will have homes in Paradise or Hellfire. After knowing all this, why don’t we put more time and effort into finding our real estate in Jannah?

As I’ve been going through my closets and packing my clothes, I packed a box called “Donations.” Any clothes that I don’t wear, that I don’t like or that I don’t fit right, I throw them in that box and forget about them.

But when we go towards our permanent homes in the akhira, we will not be able to choose what we pack and what we take with us. No, we will not have neat little boxes with all our nice clothes and belongings, while the old, dirty things will be left in a donations box. We will take everything with us, the good, the bad and the ugly. We won’t be able to choose only our good deeds and our kind words to show to Allah subhanna wa ta’ala. All of our bad deeds, all of our sins, all of the gossip and lies will be right there with us. We won’t be able to hide them, nor pass them on to someone else. They will be with us, affecting the verdict of whether we will go to Paradise or the Hellfire.

Realizing this, I hope to make a conscious effort of creating my home in Paradise, the perfect home that I want to live in for eternity. I hope to seek repentance for my sins, so I don’t have to take my bad deeds with me in front of Allah ta’ala on the Day of Judgment.

May we all be neighbors in our perfect homes in Jannah, inshaAllah. Ameen!

Charity...!!

Give in charity because there will come a time on the people when a person will go out with his alms from place to place but will not find anybody to accept it. [ref:Bukhari 88.236]

Death: A Beautiful Gift For a believer

To Allah (Almighty God) we belong, and to Him is our return." (Holy Qur'an 2:156)

Multitudes of men have walked on the surface of this Earth. They all belonged to different nations and cultures. A few of them made history for which they were remembered, whereas others were never to be mentioned again. Although each one was personally different from another - their habits, thinking and tastes differed - they all had two things in common, first, they were all delivered from their mothers womb (birth) and second, they all tasted death. Who claims he has lived a thousand years?

"The Sun travels to an appointed place. This is the decree of the Mighty, the All-Knowing." (Holy Qur'an 36:38)

Almighty God blesses us with all His gifts. The Sun gives us light during the day to help us see and it helps our crops grow so that we can eat. But the Sun also teaches us other things. Almighty God causes the day to die with its setting and allows the night to take over, which is a time for rest. In this way, He may be showing us that all of us will eventually have to die just like the day. And when the Sun rises in the morning again after our period of rest, it is as if Almighty God is telling us that we too will be raised to life after we have died. These are all signs of Almighty God to teach us to take care of our life.

One thing that we must remember is that death is inevitable, and everything except the Almighty God of course, will perish. Signs of death can be seen all around us. At funerals we see people who were once walking among us being buried in their graves. In the fall we see the leaves turn from green to yellow and fall one at a time, and in the winter we see trees, lifeless. In this way, all things in this world will wither away and die.

According to an old fable, a man made an unusual agreement with Hazrat Izraeel (pbuh) - the angel of death. He told Izraeel (pbuh) that he would be willing to accompany him (as though he had a choice) only if Izraeel (pbuh) would send him a notice well in advance. The agreement was made. Weeks became months and the months into years. One bitterly cold night, as the man sat alone thinking of his success in life, Izraeel (pbuh) tapped on his shoulder. "You are here too soon" the man cried out. "You sent no messenger. I thought we had an agreement!" Izraeel (pbuh) whispered "Notice your hair, once it was full and black, now it has streaks of silver in it! Observe your face in the mirror and see the wrinkles. Yes! I have sent many messages through the years! I have kept my part. I am sorry that you are not ready for me but the order of Almighty God cannot be averted!"

Hence, hair color turning gray from black or wrinkles on the face are also the signs of nearing death, and the Almighty God is the only one who can bring the dead back to life.

Surely all men die, and just surely Almighty God give them life with His ability, and judges them on their deeds and actions. We know Almighty God is the Creator and can recreate us, because if one can do something he has the ability to do it again.

For instance, if your teacher asks you to draw a picture on the blackboard and color it. Then if after you have drawn it with beautiful colors, the teacher asks you to rub it out and do it again, could you repeat the same drawing again?

Of course you would be able to repeat the picture. It is what you created and are capable of doing again.

From this example, we can understand Almighty God is able to give life to the dead because it is He Who created us in the beginning. Almighty God can surely give life to the dead. He judges them on their deeds. On Resurrection Day He will re-create the dead for judgment, and then allow the doer of good to enter paradise but cast the evil-doer into hell.

Hatred towards death and love of the world is the outcome of an ignorant person's mind, who thinks that the happiness of this world is his prosperity and good fortune. The world beset with numerous troubles and anxieties is about to end in misery and does not enjoy eternity, perpetuity and sincerity. A poet has referred to this in the following words - "Do not give your heart to this world, for its example is of an unfaithful bride who has never loved you, even for a night."

Imam Ali (pbuh) says: "If man will see how speedily his death is coming toward him he will abhor ambitions and will give up admiring the world."

It is of utmost importance that man should hold death dear and consider it an opportunity of meeting with his Almighty, and not hate it and consider it as evil, but should take lessons from it. He should ask forgiveness from Almighty for his sins and tame the rebellious self (Nafs). When the call of his Lord comes, he should welcome it with open arms accepting it to be a blessing from Almighty. He should be contented with the decree (Qadr) of Almighty. He should also rejoice that shortly he would be taken to the presence of Ahlul Bait [Household of Prophet] (pbut) and meet his deceased companions and other believer brothers. He should also not be disheartened by the delay in death but should consider it as an opportunity afforded by Almighty to him to repent. This delay would give him a chance to gather provisions useful for his journey to the other world, for the journey is tiresome and full of dangerous valleys and difficult paths.

In fact a believer always remembers death, since his or her main goal is to reach the Almighty God. Hazrat Qasim (pbuh), the son of Imam Hasan Al-Mujtaba (pbuh), when asked concerning death at Karbala, answered: "death to me is sweeter than honey." Therefore true believers, those who are sincerely devoted to the Almighty God, anticipate death since to them it signifies the long-awaited meeting with their creator.

During imprisonment, Imam Ali An-Naqi, Al-Hadi (pbuh) had a grave dug up ready by the side of his prayer mat. Some visitors expressed concern or surprise. The Imam explained, "In order to remember my end I keep the grave before my eyes."

Before a believer approaches the final moment of his/her life and death overtakes him, it is necessary that he wakes up from the state of negligence and prepares for the final everlasting place. This way he will be able to avoid bewilderment and the fear of the so-called untimely death.

At the time of leaving this world, as attested to by the Holy Qur'an, a person will be in one of two states - either he will be of the Companions of the Right, or the Companions of the Left (Refer Holy Qur'an 56:7-56). If he is counted amongst the Companions of the Right, he will be in a good, final state, but if he is one of the Companions of the Left, he will be of those who have suffered a great loss. 

Everything you possess is a favor from Allah

In the world in which we live, Allah bestows many favours on man. All the needs of each living being are benevolently met; no detail is forgotten.

Let's think about ourselves as examples. From the moment we wake in the morning, we need many things and encounter many situations. In brief, we survive due to the many favours bestowed upon us.

We can breathe as soon as we wake up. We never experience difficulty in doing this, thanks to our respiratory systems functioning perfectly.

We can see as soon as we open our eyes. The sharp and distant images, all three-dimensional and fully coloured, are perceived by our eyes, and indeed owe their existence to the unique design of eyes.

We taste delicious flavours. The relative proportions of the vitamin, mineral, carbohydrate or protein content of the food we eat, or how the excess of these nutrients are stored or utilised in the body never concern us. Moreover, we are mostly never aware that such complicated operations take place in our body.

When we hold some material in our hands, we immediately know if it is soft or hard. What is more, we need no mental effort to do this. Numerous similar minute operations take place in our body. The organs, responsible for these operations, have complicated mechanisms. The human body functions almost like a factory of enormous complexity and ingenuity. This body is one of the major favours given to man since man leads his existence on earth with it.

At this point, a question remains to be answered: how are the raw materials necessary to operate this factory supplied? To put it another way, how do water, air, and all the other nutrients essential for life come into existence?

Let's think about fruits and vegetables. Melons, watermelons, cherries, oranges, tomatoes, peppers, pineapples, mulberries, grapes, eggplants… all grow in soil from seeds, and the seed has a structure sometimes as hard as wood. However, while considering these, we should avoid habitual ways of thinking and employ different methods. Visualise the delicious tastes and odours of strawberries or the ever-changing odour of melon. Think about the time and energy spent in laboratories to produce similar odours and about the repeated trials that resulted in failure. Indeed, results obtained by scientists in laboratories prove to be no better than the unsuccessful imitations of their natural counterparts. The varieties of taste, odour and colour in nature bear indeed matchless attributes.

That all vegetables and fruits have distinct tastes and odours and carry individual colours is the result of the design particular to them. They are all favours Allah bestows upon man.

Similarly, animals, too, are created specially for human beings. Apart from serving as food, man finds their physical appearances appealing. Fish, corals, star-fishes decorating the depths of oceans with all their beautiful colours, all kinds of birds adding charm to their habitat or cats, dogs, dolphins and penguins… they are all favours from Allah. Allah stresses this fact in many verses:

And He has made everything in the heavens and everything on the earth subservient to you. It is all from Him. There are certainly signs in that for people who reflect. (Surat al-Jathiyah: 13)

If you tried to number Allah's blessings, you could never count them. Allah is Ever -Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Surat an-Nahl: 18)

He has given you everything you have asked Him for. If you tried to number Allah's blessings, you could never count them. Man is indeed wrongdoing, ungrateful. (Surah Ibrahim: 34)

The living beings mentioned above are only a tiny part of the favours and beauties Allah bestows. Wherever we turn, we come across creations reflecting the attributes of Allah. Allah is ar-Razzaq (the Ceaseless Provider), al-Latif (the Subtle One, He who creates things most subtly), al-Karim (the Generous One), al-Barr (the source of all goodness).

Now, take a look around you and think. And never plead ignorance of the fact that everything you possess is a favour to you from your Creator:

Any blessing you have is from Allah. Then when harm touches you, it is to Him you cry for help. (Surat an-Nahl: 53)

The Elegant Hijab

:::::::::::::::::::::::::  The Elegant Hijab  :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The pea is a splendid plant. It proudly displays its strong green Hijab. It protects it from the hot and cold weather and guards it from insects. Allah has blessed the pea with a special Hijab, because without it, the seeds would scatter, dry up and die.

The orange keeps itself within its shiny orange Hijab to protect its delicious fruit. Otherwise it loses its taste too.

  

So are the banana, the coconut and the pomegranate. Each one has an elegant and unique Hijab, which protects it from disease and destruction.

The jewel of the sea, the pearl, has been given a very tough and rugged Hijab - oyster shell. It protects it from sea animals and keeps it sparkling and shining inside.

However, the most beloved of Allah in all His creation is the Muslim girl who wears the Hijab. She knows it is a gift from Allah. It protects her from harm, injury and mischief. She wears it knowing it gives her dignity, beauty and respect. So precious she can be that she hides herself beneath her Hijab.

Do you wear a Hijab? Give it a try today

"O Prophet! Say to your wives and your daughters and the women of the faithful to draw their outergarments (jilbabs) close around themselves; that is better that they will be recognized and not annoyed. And God is ever Forgiving, Gentle." (Al Quran Al-Ahzab:59)




-Spiritual Gem