“And We will surely test you with
something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but
give good tidings to the patient”
Death of Beloved Ones
If one suffers death of someone whom he dearly loved, then he should remember
that our children, spouses, parents, friends, and other family members are but
trusts from Allah (s.w.t). A wife is a trust to her husband while her husband
is a trust to her. A child is a trust to his/her parents while the parents are
a trust to the child. As these trusts provide us with comfort and support,
Allah (s.w.t) tests us to see how we deal with them and how we take care of
these trusts. He reserves the right to take back these trusts, and He does so
when the term He sets for a trust expires. The Prophet (peace be upon him)
consoled his daughter when her baby was sick as saying:
“Whatever Allah takes away or gives, belongs to Him, and everything has a fixed
term (in this world)”. (Sahih
Al-Bukhari & Sahih Al-Muslim)
Therefore, one should not show
despair or displeasure at Allah (swt) but remain calm and patient even at the
death of his or her dearest one.
It’s natural to go down in the
dumps over a death of your loved one, however we need to have control over ourselves,
Islam tells us that we muslims should never lose faith in Allah (s.w.t). If
there is a difficult moment in life then instead of weeping over it all our
life we should turn our attention towards Allah (s.w.t) and start praying
more than before, Surely Allah (s.w.t) will give us the strength to overcome our sadness. We muslims start crying over almost every loss that we have to
face, we should always remember that
this world belongs to Allah (s.w.t) and whatever happens it’s as per Allah’s
will and whatever Our Lord has decided for us it’s for our own good we just
need to have a strong faith. This world is merely a test for us.
True believers have nothing to fear in the valley of death; they
have nothing to fear in the grave; they have nothing to fear in the world
beyond.
(Sahih Al-Bukhari)
Volume 7, Book 70, Number 545:
Narrated by Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri and Abu Huraira:
The Prophet said, "No fatigue, nor
disease, nor sorrow, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor distress befalls a Muslim, even
if it were the prick he receives from a thorn, but that Allah expiates some of
his sins for that."
(Sahih
Al-Bukhari)
Volume 7, Book 70, Number 550:
Narrated
by 'Abdullah:
I
visited the Prophet during his ailments and he was suffering from a high fever.
I said, "You have a high fever. Is it because you will have a double
reward for it?" He said, "Yes, for no Muslim is afflicted with any
harm but that Allah will remove his sins as the leaves of a tree fall
down."
A man woke up early in
order to pray the Fajr prayer in the masjid. He got dressed, made his ablution
and was on his way to the masjid.On his way to the masjid, the man fell and his
clothes got dirty. He got up, brushed himself off, and headed home. At home, he
changed his clothes, made his ablution, and was, again, on his way to the
masjid.On his way to the masjid, he fell again and at the same spot! He,again,
got up, brushed himself off and headed home. At home he, once again, changed
his clothes, made his ablution and was on his way to the masjid.On his way to
the masjid, he met a man holding a lamp. He asked the man of his identity and
the man replied 'I saw you fall twice on your way to the masjid, so I brought a
lamp so I can light your way.' The first man thanked him profusely and the two
where on their way to the masjid.Once at the masjid, the first man asked the
man with the lamp to come in and pray Fajr with him. The second man refused.
The first man asked him a couple more times and, again, the answer was the
same. The first man asked him why he did not wish to come in and pray. The man
replied'I am Satan.'The man was shocked at this reply. Satan went on to
explain, 'I saw you on your way to the masjid and it was I who made you
fall.When you went home, cleaned yourself and went back on your way to the
masjid, Allah forgave all of your sins. I made you fall a second time,and even
that did not encourage you to stay home, but rather, you went back on your way
to the masjid.Because of that, Allah forgave all the sins of the people of your
household . I was afraid if i made you fall one more time, then Allah will
forgive the sins of the people of your village, so i made sure that you reached
the masjid safely.
'So do not let Satan benefit
from his actions. Do not put off a good that you intended to do as you never
know how much reward you might receive from the hardships you encounter
while trying to achieve that good.
Importance of 'Fajr' prayer according to our beloved Prophet (s.a.w):
(Sahih Bukhari) Volume 1, Book 11, Number 626 : Narrated by Abu Huraira:
The
Prophet said, "No prayer is harder for the hypocrites than the Fajr and
the 'Isha' prayers and if they knew the reward for these prayers at their
respective times, they would certainly present themselves (in the mosques) even
if they had to crawl." The Prophet added, "Certainly I decided to order
the Mu'adh-dhin (call-maker) to pronounce Iqama and order a man to lead the
prayer and then take a fire flame to burn all those who had not left their
houses so far for the prayer along with their houses."
(Sahih Bukhari)
Volume 1, Book 10, Number 548 Narrated by Abu Bakr bin Abi Musa:
My father said, "Allah's Apostle
said, 'Whoever prays the two cool prayers ('Asr and Fajr) will go to Paradise.'
There is a myth that hookah smoking is
safer than smoking cigarettes because the hookah smoke is filtered through
water before it is inhaled. But recent studies have found that hookah smokers
actually inhale more nicotine than do cigarette smokers because of the massive
volume of smoke they inhale. A typical one-hour session of hookah smoking
exposes the user to 100 to 200 times the volume of smoke inhaled from a single
cigarette. Even after passing through the water, the tobacco smoke produced
still contains high levels of toxic compounds, including carbon monoxide, heavy
metals and cancer-causing chemicals (carcinogens).
- [World Health Organization (WHO)] -
Hookah is also called narghile
(nar-guh-lee) smoking. It started in Asia and the Middle East and involves
burning tobacco that has been mixed with flavors such as honey, molasses, or
dried fruit in a water pipe and inhaling the flavored smoke through a long
hose. Charcoal is usually used to heat the tobacco mixture, which is known as
shisha. Hookah smoking is usually a social event which allows the smokers to
spend time together and talk as they pass the pipe around. It has recently
become popular among younger people in Western countries Hookahs are marketed
as being a safe alternative to cigarettes. This claim is false. The water does
not filter out many of the toxins. In fact, hookah smoke has been shown to
contain concentrations of toxins, such as carbon monoxide, nicotine, “tar,” and
heavy metals, that are as high as or higher than are seen with cigarette smoke.
Several types of cancer, including lung cancer, have been linked to hookah
smoking. Hookah is also linked to other unique risks not associated with
cigarette smoking. For example, infectious diseases including tuberculosis
(which can infect the lungs or other parts of the body), aspergillus (a fungus
that can cause serious lung infections), and helicobacter (which can cause
stomach ulcers) may be spread by sharing the pipe or through the way the
tobacco is prepared.
- [American Cancer Society] -
‘Ban
shisha, save the youth’
Even
children who are hardly 10 year old are seen smoking shisha at a five-star
hotel, said Shazia Marri, the power minister. Doctors had ruled shisha smoking
to be extremely injurious to health, the minister added.The
information minister, Sharjeel Memon, said as per a recent Fatwa, anything that
could be a cause of death was haram according to the Islamic teachings.
- If smoking cigarettes is harmful and haram,
then hookah smoking is only worse -
Muslims are smoking all kinds of drugs making their own
hands the cause of their own destruction.
They waste so much money on cigarettes. However if you tell him to spend
this money for the sake of Allah (s.w.t) he would not do it, if you burn his
Rs.50 note he would start fighting with you and tell the world how crazy you
are. On the other hand he would pay Rs.50 to kill himself by buying a pack of
cigarettes. He would smoke and stink up the place and harm all the Muslims
around him. So cigarettes and smoking becomes something which the youth are
obsessed about they think that they look cool while smoking. You only look cool
if you have a miswak in your mouth because it purifies your mouth whereas
cigarette is leading to mouth cancer (it’s only sluggish manner of dying).
Miswak is a Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) and Cigarette is an
intoxicant.
Some of those who pretend to represent the religion are
among the worst addicts to smoking. When they are told that smoking is Haram,
they give lame excuse that there is no direct word in Qur’an or Hadith which
prohibits smoking. Therefore, they conclude, smoking is not prohibited, but is
only makruh (disliked). By doing so they provide a poor excuse for the
ignorant, and establish a very bad example for others.
Many Muslims have been influenced by such statements,
falling into the snares of addiction to smoking. Instead of being Allah's
slave, a smoker becomes slave to his cigarette. He develops a weaker control of
his sense and reason.
The whole world now knows that the money spent on smoking is
to be considered as money wasted, from which no benefit is gained; indeed, it
is money spent on something harmful. If the money which is spent on smoking
worldwide were to be collected, it could have saved entire populations who have
died of starvation. Is there anyone more foolish than the one who holds a
dollar bill and sets fire to it? What is the difference between him and the one
who smokes? Indeed, the smoker is more foolish, because the folly of the one
who burns a dollar bill ends there, whilst the one who smokes burns his money
and also harms his body.
If stress is haunting you down then smoking is surely not
the answer to your problems, turn towards your Lord ask for His forgiveness, His mercy and seek
help only from Him ,for there is no one else
on this planet who can help and there is nothing in this world that can
guide you but Qur’an. Read Qur’an and
keep praying to Allah and you won’t be stressed anymore instead you will
realize that all you actually do care for is The Last Day and that your stay in
this world is very short.
If you still cannot decide then just imagine if Satan stands
on your left and our Beloved Prophet (s.aw) on the right while you have a
cigarette in your hand. What would each of them tell you to do?
“Whoever has eaten from such greens as garlic, onions or leek should
keep away from our mosque. Truly, the angels are harmed by what harms the
offspring of Aadam.”
(How many people are offended by the smell of smokers,
especially when you are unfortunate enough to have one of them standing next to
you in the mosque? Think for a second here you are smoking outside the mosque
and when you have finished smoking you
just throw the cigarette ,go inside the mosque and start praying and you not only smell bad but you create a bad image
of all Muslims as well. If the Prophet was here today what you think he would say
to this person??)
(Sahih
Al-Muslim)
"Whoever among you sees an
evil he should change it by acting; if he cannot then let him change it by
speaking out; if he cannot then let him change it in his heart, which is the
minimum faith"
(A
smoker should at least not defend his act he should accept that it’s an evil
act and he should never encourage others to smoke nor should he offer them any
cigarette, and the non smokers should encourage their friends who are involved
in this evil act to abstain from committing such a sin, at least give it a try
if still people don’t listen to you then
it’s a closed matter from your end and its between that person and Allah only.)
(Sahih Al-Jami 7517)
The Prophet (s.a.w) said:"There should be neither harming nor
reciprocating harm"
(The smoker not only harms himself he inflicts harms upon others
around him as well.A
smoker emits his poisons in the faces of his companions, wife, children, and
the environment. We are all aware of the fact that a passive smoker is exposed
to danger as the smoker himself. Thus whether they like it or not, their friends
are forced to inhale the smoke as well, and if a friend tells them not to smoke
(for he can’t bare the cigarette smoke) they make fun of him and think low of
him.
(Sahih Al-Tabarani)
"Whoever does not take interest in the affairs of his fellow
Muslims may not be considered one of them"
(Instead
of offering cigarettes to your friends try to quit smoking and then stop others
from doing so as well, never walk away from your friends criticizing them if
you are a non smoker or say “Let him smoke I don’t care” you must try to assist
him .)
(Sahih
Al-Bukhari & Sahih Al-Muslim)
"A man is a guardian of his
household and is accountable for those in his charge; a woman is the guardian
of her husband's children and is accountable for those in her charge".
(Care must be taken
for children at home and at school. It is important at this stage that adults
take the lead and set a behavioral example to children. This pattern setting is
more effective than any eloquent preaching, and it makes the strongest
impression on others.)
(Sahih Al-Trimithi)
"No gift a father can offer his
child is better than good manners".
(Islam attaches great
importance to parental care if a child see’s his mother or father smoking all
the time at one point he would want to do the same thing and then they won’t be
able to stop him. One should not indulge himself in such activities and every
parent should try to become a role model for his children.)
(Sunan Ibn-Majah, Book of Intoxicants,
Ch:30 Hadih No.3391)
“Everything that causes intoxication is forbidden, in either large
or small quantities.”
(So smoking a single cigarette or smoking
the whole pack it doesn’t make any difference. For instance if you take one sip
of poison daily you would die in a week but if you drink the whole glass of
poison at once you’ll die instantly so what’s the difference?)
(Sahih
Al-Bukhari Vol. 5, Book 59, No. 631)
The Prophet said,
"All intoxicants are prohibited."
(There are hundreds of poisonous and
toxic ingredients in the cigarette itself that the smoker inhales straight into
the lungs.)
(Abu Dawud vol.3 no.3673)
“If something is an intoxicant, even a small amount is forbidden.”
(So
stop calming your nerves by telling yourself that you only smoke a few cigarettes)
Smoking is nothing but a slow poison 'SMOKING KILLS'
According to Qur'an and Hadith (The saying of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) all intoxicants are 'haram' whereas tobacco is an intoxicating substance.
Intoxicants in the light of Qur'an:
(Surah Al-Baqarah Ch:2 V:195)
وَلَا تُلْقُوا بِأَيْدِيكُمْ إِلَى التَّهْلُكَةِ
"Dont make your own hands the cause of your own destruction"
(Islam prohibits "tobacco" in any form which makes smoking haram however people still argue over it and will normally start saying that ‘Pan’ and ‘Pepsi’ etc are also not good for health so they are or can be haram as well. hence we should avoid them, but where Islam is concerned IF and only IF PAN contains "Tobacco" then its haram else u may have it (still not having is preferred) it’s NOT HARAM. However by smoking cigarette or sheesha we are making our own hands the cause of our own destruction).
“O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah ], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.”
(Tobacco causes Physical, Intellectual, and Moral Effects on the Human System "Tobacco, moreover is of itself, an intoxicating substance.")
(Surah Al-Balad Ch:90 V:10)
وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ
“And pointed out to him the two conspicuous ways”
(Allah (s.w.t) has given us the right to choose our own path, whichever path we chose He makes that path easier for us. So choose the right one which leads to righteousness so you can have Allah’s mercy and countless blessings.)
(Surah An-Nisa’ Ch:4 V:29)
وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ
“And do not kill yourselves”
(“Smoking Kills” it’s even written on every cigarette pack, and we all know it still we argue that smoking is not haramAccording to world health organization (WHO) there are more than a million people who die only because of smoking . 90% of people who die from lung cancer is due to smoking. )
“And makes lawful to them the good things and makes unlawful to them impure things”
(We are all aware of the unlawful things. and cigarette is impure as it causes several diseases which are mentioned again and again, it contains nicotine which is nothing more but a poison,so it’s time we should all agree to the fact that smoking is unlawful . Fear Allah (s.w.t) and ask for His mercy and guidance surely if you do so with a firm belief He The Lord of the Worlds will help you in every step you take towards him.)
“And do not spend wastefully, Indeed, the wasteful are brothers of the devils, and ever has Satan been to his Lord ungrateful.”
(Smoking is a waste of money, a smoker burns his wealth for no good reason plus it’s harmful to the body and there is no difference between the person who’s smoking and the person who commits suicide.)
“Those who strive hard in Our Cause, We will surely guide them to Our Paths.”
(If you have a craving to smoke then you have to seek Allah’s help in order to quit smoking. If you pray to Allah (s.w.t) for His help and then make sincere efforts to give up smoking, then Allah (s.w.t) will help you .but one should have a very strong belief that Allah (s.w.t) will surely help him, and remember nothing is easy, one needs to be strong.)
“And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression”
(The prohibition of smoking is not restricted to consuming it, but applies as well to offering it to people, sitting with those who are smoking, or selling it. All of this involves helping people commit sins, which is prohibited)
“Those who have believed and whose hearts are assured by the remembrance of Allah . Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts are assured."
(Even medical science has rejected outright the myth that smoking calms the nerves. So many people who do believe that cigarettes are good for the removal of the sadness and departure of the worries should know that it’s not true. Now almost all the scientists expunged this idea and concluded to the fact that cigarettes are actually causing a person to get tensed instead of healed. However what we Muslims know for sure is that the remembrance of Allah is the only healing power, for there is no one to guide us better then Allah (s.w.t))
“And when you have decided, then rely upon Allah. Indeed, Allah loves those who rely [upon Him].”
(Rely on Allah sincerely, with full determination not to return to smoking ever, if one has a strong faith and Trust in Allah (s.w.t) then Allah will surely guide him to the right path and he will be able to give up this evil habit for good.)
“And do not make [your oath by] Allah an excuse against being righteous and fearing Allah and making peace among people.
(We should fear Allah (s.w.t) at all times and do as commanded, however if we are smoking we are disobeying Allah (s.w.t). So do we fear Allah (s.w.t) then? We should be ashamed of ourselves and ask forgiveness and quit smoking as Allah (s.w.t) is ‘The Most Merciful & The Most Beneficent’)
“They have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear.”
(Almost all smokers give lame excuses that smoking is not haram it’s very disgraceful that we are well aware of the fact that smoking is haram and still we keep on doing the same thing.)
“Indeed, the worst of living creatures in the sight of Allah are the deaf and dumb who do not use reason.”
(If such people hear the Qur'an, they will not understand it. By doing so, they will be like animals, which have no minds, or even worse. So if there is even a tiny chance of something being haram we should simply stay away from it.)
(Surah An-Nisa’ Ch:4 V:59)
أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ
“Obey Allah and obey the Messenger”
(A Muslim can’t deny the Hadith of The Prophet (s.a.w). He has been instructed to do so by Allah (s.w.t) Himself. If we don’t agree with Hadith then we are not Muslims since a Muslim testifies that ‘There is no god but Allah And Muhammad (s.a.w) is His Messenger’ by believing in Qur’an but not the Hadith of the Prophet (s.a.w) we only ‘Testify that there is no god but Allah’ whereas we don’t testify that Muhammed (s.a.w) is His messenger. A Muslim needs to follow the teachings of Allah’s Messenger as commanded.)
“The believing men and believing women are allies of one another. They enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong”
(A faithful friend will only encourage you to do what is right and prevent you from doing any evil act. The one who offer you cigarette is encouraging you to do an evil act clearly he doesn’t care about your health or future.)
“Indeed, those who disbelieve - it is all the same for them whether you warn them or do not warn them - they will not believe”
(Numerous times when someone tries to warn that ‘smoking kills’ smokers get annoyed and end up making fun of that person. They should fear Allah for their heart is sealed and they have been blinded.)
“Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and the remembrance of Allah is greater” (Start praying ‘five’ times a day as prescribed by our beloved Prophet (s.a.w) as Prayer keeps you away from all kinds of evil acts.)