Short Story: 'Only for Allah (s.w.t)'

There was a pious man among the Banu Israel who always remained busy in the worship of Allah. A group of people came to him and told him that a tribe living nearby worshiped a tree. The news upset him, and with an axe on his shoulder he went to cut down that tree. On the way, Satan met him in the form of an old man and asked him where he was going. He said he was going to cut a particular tree. Satan said, "You have nothing to be concerned with this tree, you better mind your worship and do not give it up for the sake of something that does not concern you." "This is also worship," retorted the worshiper. Then Satan tried to prevent him from cutting the tree, and there followed a fight between the two, in which the worshiper overpowered the Satan. 

Finding himself completely helpless, Satan begged to be excused, and when the worshiper released him, he again said, "Allah has not made the cutting of this tree obligatory on you. You do not lose anything if you do not cut it. If its cutting were necessary, Allah could have got it done through one of his many Prophets." The worshiper insisted on cutting the tree. There was again a fight between the two and again the worshiper overpowered the Satan. "Well listen," said Satan, "I propose a settlement that will be to your advantage." The worshiper agreed, and Satan said, "You are a poor man, a mere burden on this earth. If you stay away from this act, I will pay you three gold coins everyday. You will daily find them lying under your pillow. By this money you can fulfill your own needs, can oblige your relative, help the needy, and do so many other virtuous things. Cutting the tree will be only one virtue, which will ultimately be of no use because the people will grow another tree." This proposal appealed to the worshiper, and he accepted it.

He found the money on two successive days, but on the third day there was nothing. He got enraged, picked up his axe and went to cut the tree. Satan as an old man again met him on the way and asked him where he was going. "To cut the tree," shouted the worshiper. "I will not let you do it," said Satan. A fight took place between the two again but this time Satan had the upper hand and overpowered the worshiper. The latter was surprised at his own defeat, and asked the former the cause of his success. Satan replied, "At first, your anger was purely for earning the pleasure of Allah, and therefore Almighty Allah helped you to overpower me, but now it has been partly for the sake of the gold coins and therefore you lost."

Source: From the book "Ihyaa-ul Uloom Ud Deen" by Imam Ghazzali (ra).

7 Reasons to Read The Glorious Quran

The Holy Qur'an

Intimate:
It dares you to disprove it. How? It says that humans cannot write a book like this even if they pooled all their resources together and got help also from the spirits. The Qur’an said this fourteen hundreds years ago and yet no one has been able to disprove it. Billions of books have been written - but not another one like the Qur’an.

Incorruptible:
It is the only religious sacred writing which has been in circulation for such a long time and yet remains as pure as it was in the beginning. The Qur’an was kept intact. Nothing was added to it; nothing was changed in it; and nothing was taken away from it ever since it was completely revealed 1400 years ago.

Unsurpassable:
The Qur’an is Allah (s.w.t)’s final revelation to humankind. Allah (s.w.t) revealed the Torah to Moses, the Pslams to David, the Gospel to Jesus, and finally The most sacred book of all ‘The Holy Qur’an’ to Prophet Muhammad. Peace is upon all of them. No other book will come from Allah (s.w.t) to surpass his final revelation.

Indisputable:
The Qur’an withstands the test of time and scrutiny. No one can dispute the truth of this book. It speaks about past history and turns out right. It speaks about the future in prophecies and it turns out right. IT mentions details of physical phenomena which were not known to people at the time; yet later scientific discoveries confirm that the Qur’an was right all along. Every other book needs to be revised to accord with modern knowledge. The Qur’an alone is never contradicted by a modern discovery.

Your Roadmap for Life and Afterlife:
The Qur’an is the best guidebook on how to structure your life. No other book presents such a comprehensive system involving all aspects of human life and endeavor. The Qur’an also points out the way to secure everlasting happiness in the afterlife. It is your roadmap showing how to get to paradise.

Allah (s.w.t) 's Gift of Guidance:
Allah (s.w.t)  has not left you alone. You were made for a reason. Allah (s.w.t) tells you why he made you, what he demands from you, and what he has in store for you. If you operate a machine contrary to its manufacture specification you will ruin that machine. What about you? Do you have an owner's manual for you? The Qur’an is from your function for success lest you fail to function. It is a healing mercy from Allah (s.w.t) . It satisfies the soul, and cleans the heart. It removes doubts and brings peace. 

Your Calling Card to Communicate with Allah (s.w.t) :
Humans are social creatures. We love to communicate with other intelligent life. The Qur’an tells us how to communicate with the source of all intelligence and the source of all life- the One Allah (s.w.t) . The Qur’an tells us who Allah (s.w.t) is, by what name we should address Allah (s.w.t) , and the way in which to communicate with Allah (s.w.t) .

Being Patient Over The Death of Loved One's

                                                 

(Surat Al–Mulk Ch:67 V:2)

الَّذِي خَلَقَ الْمَوْتَ وَالْحَيَاةَ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْغَفُورُ

“ [He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving”

 (Surah Baqrah Ch:2 V:155)

وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُم بِشَيْءٍ مِّنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِّنَ الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَنفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَاتِ وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ

“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."

Hadith of Our Beloved Prophet (s.a.w)

(Sahih Al-Bukhari)

“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)