Don’t Just Talk, Bring It

"A promise is a cloud; fulfillment is the rain." – Arab proverb. Keep
in mindthat for the Arabs, living in harsh desert lands, rain is the
bringer of life and Allah's blessing, providing bounty and relief. The
proverb is saying that a cloud is like a promise, offering hope of
needed sustenance but not really giving it. If you want to be real,
bring the rain.
Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, said, "There are three signs of a hypocrite: whenever he
speaks, he lies; whenever he makes a promise, he breaks it; and
whenever he is trusted, he betrays his trust." [Agreed upon] It is
added in a variant of Muslim, "Even if he fasts and prays and claims
that he is a Muslim."
Deceivers and hypocrites are clouds that pass over again and again but
bring no rain, leaving only drought and hunger in their wake.
Now, before anyone sends me a message saying, "Only Allah can bring
rain!" – I don't mean it literally. I'm speaking metaphorically, in
keeping with the proverb.
Andrew Carnegie, the famous industrialist, observed, "As I grow older
I pay less attention to whatmen say. I just watch what they do."
If you want to make a real difference in the world, if you want to
better your situation and your family's lives, if you want people
totake you seriously, then don't only talk. Do. Bring it.
Do that consistently and people will take your wordlike a Himalayan
mountain.You will move ahead in lifelike an orca – the most powerful
swimmer in the sea – cutting through the waves. And you will have one
of the characteristics ofa true believer, as the keeping of promises
is one of the most important aspects of Imaan (faith). (I should point
out that the exception would be a promise to do something evil – such
a promise should be broken, since there is no virtue in doing haram,
and therefore no virtue in keeping the promise).
"O you who believe! Fulfill (your) obligations." (Quran 5:1)
Amir al-Mu'minin (Commander of the Faithful) 'Ali (RA), in his letter
to Malik al-Ashtar, wrote:
"If you conclude an agreement between yourself and your enemy or enter
into a pledge with him, then fulfil your agreement and discharge your
pledge faithfully. Place yourself as a shield against whatever you
havepledged, because among the obligations of Allah there is nothing
on which people are more firmly united despite the difference of their
ideas and variation of their viewsthan respect for fulfilling
pledges."
Words are important. They are a starting point, and they have the
power to heal or hurt. But even moreimportant are actions. Fulfill
your promises. Practice what you preach. Do. Bring it.

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Truth Builds Trust

On certain evenings I have a martial arts class, and I hope that Salma
will fall asleep quickly so I can hurry to my class before it'sover
(my mother watches her until I return). Sometimes Salma asks me,
"Baba, are you staying home tonight or going to your class?"
I know that if I lie and say, "I'm staying home," that will comfort
her and she'll fall asleep quickly, allowingme to go to class. On the
other hand, if I say, "I'm going to my class," she'll deliberately
struggle to stay awake, chattering and rolling around in bed, because
she does not wantme to leave.
So what do I do? I say, "If you fall asleep soon I will go to my
class, otherwise I will stay." I tell her the truth, even it means
that I miss my class, because I could not live with myself if I lied
to her for selfish reasons, even if it's a "harmless" lie.
Some days I get to my class, some days I don't.
I follow this same strategy in every aspect of my relationship with
her. If shesays, "Baba, can we go to the zoo on Saturday?" I never
say, "We'll see," just to placate her and change the subject. Someone
did that with me in my childhood and I always hated it because I knew
that it really meant "no" and was just an obfuscation. So with Salma I
might say, "If it's sunny we can go to the zoo Insha'Allah," and when
the day comes and it's sunny I will take her to the zoo no matter
what, short of an emergency. Or I might say, "Sorry baby, we need to
goshopping on Saturday and we won't have time."
My point is that I'm always honest with her even whenthe answer may
upset her, and the result is that she trusts me. I see in my
interaction with her that she accepts my word and believes me.
I know these are small examples. There's nothing earth shaking about
tellingthe truth to a little child. But you know, many people do
routinely lie to their children for the sake of convenience.
Wael's daughter Salma at the Fresno Zoo
Le'ts be ourselves and be honest. Le'ts take these small examples and
do a close examination of our interactions with all our family
members, our friends, our work colleagues, and our business partners.
Do we sometimes lie to simplify matters or to make ourselves look
good?
Or do we always tell the truth, even when it's uncomfortable?
If we were to adopt a policy of truth at all times, what consequences
would that have? Really think about it. How would it affect our
credibility, our friendships, and our work relationships?
I believe that, contrary to what our fears and insecurities may tell
us, being honest in all our relationships would lay a deep and strong
foundation and allow those relationships to flourish.
Tell the Truth Without Harm
There should be no exceptions to honesty, but telling the truth is not
a compulsion to harm yourself, nor a justification for harming others.
For example, no Muslim should openly manifest his immoral actions or
past. It was narrated that Saalim ibn 'Abd-Allah said: I heard Abu
Hurayrah say: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) say:
"All of my Ummah will be fine except for those whocommit sins openly.
Part of committing sins openly is when a man does something at night
and Allah conceals it, but in the morning he says, 'O So-and-so, last
night I did such and such.' His Lord had covered his sin all night,
but in the morning he removed the cover of Allah." (Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 5721; Muslim, 2990)
In my capacity as an editor of IslamcAnswers.com, I have often been
anonymously asked some version of this question: "I lived a sinful
lifestyle at one point, including committing zinaa, but I have
repented. Now I am engaged to be married andmy fiancé wants to know
about my past. What should I say? If I tell him/her everything, he may
break off the engagement, but if I lie then I'll be building a future
on a foundation of dishonesty."
My response is that one should give a reply along these lines: "My
past is between me and Allah. For whatever sins I have committed, I
have asked Allah's forgiveness and continue to do so. I will notsay
more. Please judge me according to the person I am now, just as I will
do with you."
If that response is not satisfactory to the other person and he
continues topry, I guarantee you he is not good husband (or
wife)material for you. If you don't tell him everything, he will
continue to harangue you endlessly. And if you do, he will be jealous
and probably neverforgive you. No one needs that kind of judgment in
life.

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QUR'AN AYATH EXPLANATION :- ~

Allah says,
"Do you not see that Allah is exalted by whomever is within the
heavens and the earth and [by] the birds with wings spread [in
flight]? Each has known his [means of] prayer and exalting [Him], and
Allah is Knowing of what they do.
And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and to
Allah is the destination.
Do you not see that Allah drives clouds? Then He brings them together,
then He makes them intoa mass, and you see the rain emerge from within
it. And He sends down from the sky, mountains [of clouds] within which
is hail, and He strikes with it whom He wills and averts it from whom
He wills. The flash of its lightening almost takes away the eyesight.
Allah alternates the nightand the day. Indeed in that is a lesson for
those who have vision.
Allah has created every [living] creature from water. And of them are
those that move on their bellies, and of them are those that walk on
two legs, and of them are those that walk on four. Allah creates what
He wills. Indeed, Allah is over all things competent." ( Quran 24:
41-45)
All of the things described in these verses exist in submission to
Allah. Only we, children of Adam (and the jinn), have been given the
ability to disobey. When we rebel – and that includes lying – we come
into conflict with Allah, with society, with all other living
creatures, with the weather that surrounds us, and even with the night
and day!
Last but not least, we comeinto conflict with our own bodies. How
could that be anything but harmful? Isn'tit a sign to us that lying is
wrong on a very deep level?

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NEWS - ~ Workers among 16 dead in latest big Italian quake 2012-05-29 23:12:47 GMT 2012-05-30 07:12:47(Beijing Time) SINA.com

A car is covered in debris after the roof of a quake-damaged house
collapsed in Cavezzo. A strong earthquake has rocked northeastern
Italy, killing at least 15 people, just days after another quake in
the same region wrought death and destruction. (AFP Photo/Pierre
Teyssot)
Damaged buildings are seen in Mirandola near Modena May 29, 2012. An
earthquake struck northern Italy on Tuesday,killing at least 10
people, damaging buildings and spreading panic among thousands of
residents stillliving in tents after a tremor shook the region just
over a week ago, destroying their homes. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo
(ITALY - Tags: ENVIRONMENT DISASTER)
People walk past a collapsed building, after an earthquake, in Cavezzo
near Modena May 29, 2012. An earthquake struck northern Italy on
Tuesday, killing at least 10people, damaging buildings and spreading
panic among thousands ofresidents still living in tents after a tremor
shook the region just over a week ago, destroying theirhomes.
REUTERS/Giorgio Benvenuti (ITALY - Tags: ENVIRONMENT DISASTER)
A man walks in front of a collapsed church in Mirandola, northern
Italy, Tuesday, May 29, 2012. A magnitude 5.8 earthquakestruck the
same area of northern Italy stricken by another fatal tremor on May
20. (AP Photo/Marco Vasini)
People react in front of thedestroyed BBG industrial moldings building
in Mirandola, northern Italy, Tuesday, May 29, 2012. Second from left
is Mr.Borghi who lost his sonin the building. A magnitude 5.8
earthquakestruck northern Italy on Tuesday, killing at least 10people
as factories, warehouses and a church collapsed in the same region
still struggling to recover from another deadly tremor nine days ago.
(AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
An Italian policeman helpsa woman and her baby during an earth tremor
in Mirandola, northern Italy, Tuesday, May 29, 2012. A magnitude 5.8
earthquakestruck northern Italy on Tuesday, killing at least 10people
as factories, warehouses and a church collapsed in the same region
still struggling to recover from another deadly tremor nine days ago.
(AP Photo/Marco Vasini)
Workers at the small machinery company had just returned for their
first shift following Italy's powerful and deadly quake earlier this
month when another one struck Tuesday morning, collapsing the roof.
At least three employees at the factory — two immigrants and an
Italian engineer checking the building's stability — wereamong those
killed in the second deadly quake in nine days to strike a region of
Italy that hadn't considered itself particularly quake prone.
By late Tuesday, the deathtoll stood at 16, with one person missing :
a worker at the machinery factory in the small town of San Felice Sul
Panaro. Some 350 people also were injured in the 5.8 magnitude quake
north ofBologna in Emilia Romagna, one of Italy's more productive
regions, agriculturally and industrially. Originally government
officials had put the death toll at 17, and there was no immediately
explanation for the lowered toll.
The injured included a 65-year-old woman who was pulled out alive by
rescuers after lying for 12 hours in the rubble of her apartment's
kitchen in Cavezzo, another town hard hit by the quake. Firefighters
told Sky TG24 TV that a piece of furniture, which had toppled over,
saved her from being crushed by thewreckage. She was taken to a
hospital for treatment.
The building had been damaged in the first quake, on May 20, and
hadbeen vacant since. The woman had just gone back inside it Tuesday
morning to retrieve some clothes when the latest temblor knocked down
the building, firefighters said.

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