Hajj the Journey of a Lifetime Asalaam alaikum. Tomorrow I leave for Hajj, insha'Allah. I think now would be a good time to start packing. Sorry for any wrong I may have caused anyone. Wasalaam, Arshad
I'm back from my trip to Malaysia. It was a wonderful experience, alhumdullilah. The food, people, places, and shopping were amazing. I took so many pictures, including the one in this entry of the view of the pool below. Every building in Malaysia has a place to pray. In fact the airline (Malaysian Air) has a prayer room and all the food aboard is zabihah. Alhumdullilah they take their Islam serious there. The prayer place at work was always packed everytime I went there. And when there were shift changes at 7pm one could see a line of hijabis for 2 miles down the road walking to their hostel and the others walking to work. There were hijabis everywhere in all facets of life. In the banks, shops, restaurants, working at the airport, medical center, etc. Eid Mubarak to everyone. I maybe going to Thailand next month.
Please make duaa for my mother, we just found out her cancer is back. I don't know how that will impact our trip to Hajj this year.
Remember, the first 10 days of Ramadan are mercy, the second 10 days are forgiveness, and the last 10 are freedom from the fire.
Imaam Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
“duas and ta’awwudhaat [prayers seeking refuge with Allaah] are like a weapon, and a weapon is only as good as the person who is using it; it is not merely the matter of how sharp it is. If the weapon is perfect and free of faults, and the arm of the person using it is strong, and there is nothing stopping him, then he can lay waste the enemy. But if any of these three features is lacking, then the effect will be lacking accordingly.” (al-Daa’ wa’l-Dawaa’, p. 35).
Taken from The Path to Guidance By Ibn Al-Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah
And who is better in speech than he who invites (men) to Allah (Islamic Monotheism), does righteous deeds and says, “I am one of the Muslims” (Surah Fussilat (41:33))
Al-Hasan al-Basree said, “This is the beloved of Allah, this is the Friend (waliyy) of Allah. He submitted to Allah, acted in obedience to Allah and called the creation to Him.”
These types of people are the most excellent of all the types of people, the highest of them in rank on the Day of Judgment in the Sight of Allah and those whom Allah has excluded from the losers (mentioned) in His saying:
By Al-Asr (the time). Verily man is in loss. Except those who believe, do righteous good deeds, and recommend one another to the truth and recommend one another to patience. (Surah al-Asr (103:1~3))
So He, free from all imperfection, swore an oath over the ruin and loss of mankind, but excepted the one who perfected himself with faith and righteous actions and who perfected others by advising them with both of these things (faith and righteous actions). This is why Imaam ash-Shaafi’ee (may Allah have mercy on him) said, “If all of mankind were to reflect upon Surah al-Asr, it would suffice them” Ibn al-Qayyim said, “And an explanation of this is that by the completion and perfection of the four levels, an individual attains the limit in his perfection. The first: Knowing the truth; the second: acting upon it; the third: teaching it to the one who is not conversant with it and the fourth: having patience in learning it, acting upon it and teaching it:
O Allah, beautify us with the adornment of eemaan, make us guides (for others), guided, not astray leading others astray, peaceful to Your close friends (awliyaa), warring with Your enemies. With Your love do we love those who love You and with Your enmity do we show enmity to those who oppose You. AMEEN
The words 'isolation' and 'seclusion' have a special meaning in our religion: to stay away from evil and its perpetrators, and to keep those who are foolish at a distance. When you seclude yourself from evil in this manner, you will have an opportunity to reflect, to think, to graze in the meadows of enlightenment.
When you isolate yourself from things that divert you from Allah's obedience, you are giving youself a dose of medicine, one that doctors of the heart have found to be a most potent cure. When you seclude yourself from evil and idleness, your brain is stimulated into action. The results are increases in faith, repentance, and remembrance of Allah, the Most Merciful.
However, some gatherings are not only recommended, but necessary: the congregational prayer, circles of learning, and all gatherings of righteousness. As for gatherings wherein frivolity and shallowness prevail, be wary of them. Take flight from such gatherings, weep over your wrongdoing, hold your tongue, and be content within the boundaries of your home. By mixing with others based on foolish motives, you endanger the stability and soundness of your mind, for the people you indiscriminately mix with are likely to be experts at wasting time, masters at spreading lies, and skilled in spreading both trouble and mischief. "Had they marched out with you, they would have added to you nothing except disorder; and they and they would have hurried about in your midst [spreading corruption] and sowing sedition among you..." (Qur'an 9:47)
I advise you to fortify yourself to your purpose and isolate yourself in your room, except when you leave it to speak well or to do well. When you apply this advice, you will find that your heart has returned to you. So use your time well and save your life from being wasted. Hold your tongue from backbiting, free your heart from anxiety, and preserve your ears from profanity.
Those who have nothing to do with their lives are the same people who spend most of their time spreading rumors and falsehood, mainly because their minds are devoid of beneficial thoughts: “They are content to be with those [the women] who sit behind [at home]. Their hearts are sealed up [from right guidance] so they understand not.” (Qur'an 9:87)
When you find yourself to be idle, prepare for depression and despair, because idleness allows your mind to wander in the past, the present, and the future, with all of their difficulties. Therefore, my sincere advice to you is to perform fruitful acts instead of being idle, for idleness is a slow and veiled form of suicide.
Idleness is like the slow torture that is inflicted upon prisoners in China: they are placed under a tap, from which a drop of water falls only after every hour. During the period of waiting between drops, many of them lose their minds are driven to insanity.
Being inactive means being negligent of one’s duties. Idleness is an expert thief and your mind is its victim.
Therefore get up now and say a prayer or read a book; praise your Lord, study, write, organize your library, fix something in your house, or benefit others so that you can put an end to your inactivity. I say this only because I sincerely wish for you betterment.
Destroy boredom by working. When you apply this simple precept alone, you will have traveled at least fifty percent of the way towards happiness. Look at farmers, carpenters, and the bread-maker, and observe how, when they are working, they recite words as melodious as the singing of birds, because they are content. Afterwards observe yourself and how you toss and turn on your bed wiping away your tears, always miserable, always torturing yourself.
"The Event [the Hour or the punishment of disbelievers and polytheists or the Islamic laws or commandments], ordained by Allah will come to pass, so seek not to hasten it." (Qur'an 16:1)
Be not hasty and rushed for things that have yet to come to pass. Do you think it is wise to pick fruits before they become ripe? Tomorrow is non-existent, having no reality today, so why should you busy yourself with it? Why should you have apprehensions about future disasters? Why should you be engrossed by their thoughts, especially since you do not know whether you will even see tomorrow?
The important thing to know is that tomorrow is from the world of the unseen, a bridge that we do not cross until it comes. Who knows, perhaps we might never reach the bridge, or the bridge might collapse before we reach it, or we may actually reach it and cross safely.
For us to be engrossed in expectations about the future is looked down upon in our religion since it leads to our having a long-term attachment to this world, an attachment that the good believer shuns. Many people of this world are unduly fearful of future poverty, hunger, disease, and disaster: such thinking is inspired by the Devil. "Satan threatens you with poverty and orders you to commit Fahsha [evil deeds, illegal sexual intercourse, sins etc.], whereas Allah promises you Forgiveness from Himself and Bounty..." Qur'an 2:268
Many are those who cry because they see themselves starving tomorrow, falling sick after a month, or because they fear that the world will come to an end after a year. Someone who has no clue as to when he will die (which is all of us) should not busy himself with such thoughts.
Since you absorbed in the toils of today, leave tomorrow until it comes. Beware of becoming unduly attached to future prospects in this world.
