Foreword

Assalamu'alaikum. Welcome to this plain, mediocrely designed hut of mine. I love to write, and this is where I write. Things that I write, there might be mistakes in them. I seek refuge in Allah swt for me and you from the harm my writing may bring. Any good from it, may He swt reward me for that and spread the good to others. Any words that appear displeasing to you, don't take it to heart for I don't intend to hurt anyone in any way. Any advices I put forward, may Allah swt give me the taufiq to first act upon them, for they might testify against me in the hereafter. Jazakallah Khair.

Monday, January 2, 2012

a bedtime story


I'd like to share a story a brother in our jama'ah was telling us at bedtime..a story that made me look deep into myself and think, how many flaws I have in me that require immediate treatment. I'm just paraphrasing it from what I heard..so there may be a few "kinks" here and there. And I need to add some flavors of my own too in it..hehe.

Once in the time of the tabi'in, there was a Christian king. One day, the king and his army captured a young Muslim man. The man was about to be killed, but then the king's adviser told him that this young man would be more useful to them alive. If they could convert him into a Christian, he would be of great use in the preaching of Christianity. That's what they thought. So, the king agreed to spare the young man and ordered him to be kept in isolation for three days until he denounces his faith. But the young man was no ordinary Muslim who would simply give up his iman. After three days their plan didn't work..the young man was still steadfast on his iman. So, the king and his people consulted among themselves about what else to do to convert him. Now..the king had a very beautiful daughter. So he decided to send her to seduce this young man. And so she went to him. She was trying hard to seduce him and did every thing a young girl could possibly do to win over a young guy. But the young man did not waver in his iman. He never brought his gaze up despite all her attempts. At all times, he was keeping his gaze down. After three days of unfruitful effort, she finally got fed up. She asked the young man, "Who are you? Are you a stone? Are you made of stone? Are you not a human? What is it that's stopping you from looking at me..such a beautiful girl? What is it that's forcing you not to even glance at me?" Then the young muslim answered, "ALLAH...!" in such a way that her heart was shaken. Later, she went to her father and told him that she almost succeeded. She also told the king that she needs two horses to take the man with her so she can really convince him this time. So the king agreed, and she took him for a ride outside the palace. Then she said to the young Muslim man, "I want to learn about your Allah." He replied, "We're in a Christian environment. If you want to learn about Allah, you need to go to a Muslim environment." On hearing this, she asked the man to take her to this Muslim place that he meant. So the young man took her to a Muslim settlement, where he introduced her to one 'alim from behind a curtain. Cutting to the chase, she finally  became Muslim. After a while, she went back to the young man and said to him, "I want to marry you." The man replied, "Why me? You are a Muslim now, you are free to marry any of the Muslim men." She said, "No. I just want to marry you." "Why?" "Because I want a husband who is loyal to me. The way you are loyal to your Allah, that's how you will be loyal to me."

The brother was saying, "If you give up haram for halal, Allah will give you either an equivalent to that or something even better...If you get caught up in such a situation, the only thing that can save you is iman...Among the things for which Allah swt will grant you Jannah: replying to the azan, practicing miswak as a habit, sitting in a gathering of iman as someone who is thirsty for knowledge not as a critic, and taking care of your gaze."

p/s: Only He knows how hard it is to observe all these things..because Jannah is expensive.