For children, - Muslim Ummah and Islamic Society: The Lost Message(Story of the Ants)

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From time immemorial, Ants have had many enemies.
There were some who thought it would be wise to hold council together to see if they could come to some arrangement whereby they could live without being attacked by other animals.
At the council meeting, there were Red Ants, Rice Ants, Black Ants, Wagtail Ants, Gray Ants, Shining Ants and many other varieties.
The discussion continued for a long time, but they could not agree.
Some desired that they should all live in a small hole in the ground. Others wanted to build on the ground, where nobody could enter but Ants.
Still some wanted to dwell in Trees so as to get rid of Anteaters, forgetting entirely that there they would be the prey of Birds.
Each party resolved to go to work in its own way, with its own responsibilities.
Each group had an appointed task, and each member of the group worked regularly and well.
But unity of all the Ants could not be seen anywhere in the world.
The ants chose a King from among them. They divided the labor so that all went as smoothly as it possibly could.
But each group did it in its own way and not one of them thought of protecting themselves against the onslaught of birds or Anteaters.
The Red Ants built their house on the ground and lived under it, but Anteaters flattened their home in a minute after days of precious labor.
The Rice Ants lived under the ground and with them it went no better. For whenever they came out, Anteaters were waiting.
The Wagtail Ants fled to the Trees, but on many occasions Centipedes sat waiting for them, or the birds gobbled them up.
The gray Ants had intended to save themselves from extermination by taking to flight, but lizards, hunting Spiders and birds flew a great deal faster than they did.
When the Ant King heard that the different groups of animals could come to no agreement, he sent them the secret of Unity and the message of working together.
Until this day, they have not understood the message of unity and working together between each group and each species.
"O Naml! Enter your houses, (that) Suleiman and his hosts may not crush you while they do not know" (27:18)





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Highlights, - Social evils that are destroying Muslim communities - II

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Severing ties with kinfolk: The most important of kinfolk are one's parents, and yet we find many people dealing with them in an inappropriate manner or even severing ties with them altogether. As for those who do try to fulfil the needs of their parents, many of them do it begrudgingly, while expressing discontent or complaining that it is a burden upon them. This is in spite of the fact that Allaah The Almighty commands us to not say even the least expression of discontent in this regard, saying )what means(:}“…Say not to them ]so much as[ 'Uff,' and do not repel them but speak to them a noble word.”{]Quran, 17’: 23[
The mother of Huthayl bin Hafsah, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said,
“He would collect wood during the summer and peel off the outer layer of bark himself. Then, when winter would come, he would come to me whilst I was praying, light a brazier )in my room( and place the peeled wood in it, as this does not give harmful smoke. He would do so just so that I would be warm during prayer. He would do so even though we had a servant who could do the job. Whenever I thought of stopping him and commanding him to return to his family, I would remember why he was doing it, and thus I would allow him to continue."
Why was he doing this himself despite him having a servant who could have done it for him? It was nothing but a reflection of his full dutifulness towards his mother.
This type of nobility is not limited to ones parents; rather, one should be kind to all his relatives and even his fellow Muslims.
Wasting time: The issue of wasting time is a very important one indeed. We must be careful about it and hold ourselves to account regarding it because we spend much of our time uselessly instead of spending it in acts of obedience to Allaah, as it should be utilised. Allaah The Almighty Says )what means(:}“And it is He who has made the night and the day in succession for whoever desires to remember or desires gratitude.”{]Quran, 25: 62[
Therefore, time was created so that we would fill it with acts of obedience to Allaah, The Almighty but many people do the exact opposite of this. The Salaf )righteous predecessors(, may Allaah have mercy upon them, were very keen to make use of every second of their time. Al-Hasan, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said, “I have met some people who were stingier with their time than they were with their wealth.”
People nowadays waste their times in games, late nights, socializing, watching television and in vain talk. They may even go as far as doing so at the expense of their religious obligations, such as their daily prayers, and so on.
Wasting wealth:Many men cave in under pressure from their wives and children and therefore spend extravagantly, but when they are asked to spend in charity, one would find that they are so stingy that if they were to pull out two bills to give in charity, one would invariably return to his pocket. However, if this same person were to go to a restaurant, he would have no problem in spending multiples of this amount.
Allaah The Almighty will ask us about our wealth because we were informed as such by the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam. Abu Barzah, may Allaah be pleased with him, reported, “The Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said:“Man's feet will not move on the Day of Resurrection before he is asked about his life and how he consumed it, his knowledge and what did he do with it, his wealth and how he earned it and how he disposed of it, and about his body and how he wore it out.”"]At-Tirmithi[
This does not imply that people do not spend generously or that there are no people who do any of the abovementioned matters correctly. The purpose of highlighting these points is to serve as a reminder for Muslims – at both the individual and community level – so that we realize the importance of these matters and hold ourselves to account with respect to them, as there are many of us who are failing to do so.










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Highlights, - The Dilemma of Ill Thoughts

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The disease of ill thoughts is one of the most fatal diseases that can destroy individuals and communities. Once it becomes deep-rooted in the soul of man, it destroys all ties of intimacy and affection and incites hatred and resentment. Some people, whose hearts are morally diseased, only look at others through dark glasses. For them, all people are, by default, suspects, or even guilty.
There is no doubt that having ill thoughts about others contradicts the teachings of the Noble Quran, the Sunnah and the guidance of the righteous predecessors. Allaah The Almighty Says )what means(:}O you who have believed, avoid much ]negative[ assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin. And do not spy or backbite each other. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his brother when dead? You would detest it. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is Accepting of repentance and Merciful.{]Quran 49:12[
The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said:“Beware of ill thoughts, for ill thoughts represent the worst of false speech. Do not look for other's faults. Do not spy on one another.”The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, also taught Muslims how to think well of others. A man came to him and said, “My wife has delivered a black baby )and I suspect that he is not my child(.” The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, asked him:“Have you got camels?”The man said, “Yes.” The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, asked:“What is their color?”The man said, “They are reddish )brown(.” The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, asked:“Are any of them grey?”He said, “There are grey ones among them.” The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, asked:“From where do you think this color came to them?”The man said, “It probably resulted from hereditary disposition.” The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said:“Similarly, this )your child( might be a hereditary disposition.”]Muslim and Al-Bukhaari, with the wording of Muslim[
The righteous predecessors, may Allaah have mercy upon them, avoided this evil quality. They, may Allaah have mercy upon them, would seek excuses for Muslims to the extent that some of them would say, “I seek seventy excuses for my brother's misdeed, then I say that he might have an excuse that I do not know about.” Why we do not follow the example of the righteous predecessors, may Allaah have mercy upon them, in this regard? Those who think ill of Muslims follow the example of the man who said to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, “This division is not based on justice and it was not intended to win the pleasure of Allaah,” when he was referring to some wealth that the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam had divided and distributed.
Some scholars divided ill thoughts into two types, both of which are from the grave major sins:
Ill thoughts about Allaah: This type is one of the most heinous crimes and sins because it attributes to Allaah what is improper for His generosity and benevolence.
Ill thoughts about Muslims: This type is also a grave major sin because whoever judges his brother based on ill thoughts, the devil will make him belittle his brother, deny his rights, slander him and spy on him. Obviously, all of these things are forbidden destructive acts. Some scholars have said, “If you see a person who always thinks ill of people and seeks to expose their faults, you should know that he is an evil person. The believer always seeks excuses for others because he is good and righteous, whereas, the hypocrite searches for the faults and defects of others given his evil nature.”
Hence, dear Muslim, beware of ill thoughts. We advise you to supplicate to Allaah to protect you from them. If you cannot dismiss your ill thoughts, then the least you can do is to remain silent and avoid speaking about them. If you manage to get rid of these ill thoughts, then you would have escaped a grave danger. Otherwise, perhaps you will not be saved.








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