The Aim Is To Attain The Good Pleasure Of Allah

Say: "I am commanded to worship Allah, makingmy religion sincerely
His." (Surat az-Zumar: 11)
Once having grasped the extent of Allah's infinite might, to forget
His existence and remain heedless is merely to delude oneself. What
Allahdemands from human beings is that they seek to earn His good
pleasure as their sole priority in life.
Since it is Allah Who created man, provided him his sustenance and all
other such blessings, and Who promised him eternallife in the , it
would be an act of ingratitude for man to seek the pleasure of others,
or the gratification of his own self, as his primary aim. The
punishment for such ungratefulness is eternal hellfire.
There are two choices a man can make; he can either found his life on
Allah's good pleasure, and thus earn the reward of His Paradise, or
choose thepath that leads to Hell. A third option is not available for
him. This is clearly expressed in the following verse:
Who is better: someone who founds his building on fear of Allah and
His good pleasure, or someone who founds his building on the brinkof a
crumbling precipice so that it collapses with him into the Fire of
Hell? Allah does not love wrongdoers. (Surat at-Tawba: 109)
Those values praised in the Qur'an are those founded on purely that
which achieves Allah's pleasure. For example, self-sacrifice, which is
pleasing to Allah, is valid only if the person does notexpect anything
for it in return, but rather only to attain Allah's good pleasure. It
is related in the Qur'an that believers conduct themselves correctly
only to seek Allah's countenance:
They give food, despite their love for it, to the poor and orphans and
captives: "We feed you only out of desire for theFace of Allah. We do
not want any repayment from you or any thanks." (Surat al-Insan: 8-9)
Allah's Messenger, the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant
him peace) also stated in ahadith that Allah's Pleasure must always be
held above man's pleasure:
Whoever seeks Allah's Pleasure at the expense ofmen's displeasure,
will winAllah's Pleasure and Allah will cause men to be pleased with
him. And whoever seeks to please men at the expense of Allah's
Displeasure, will win the Displeasure of Allah and Allah will cause
men to be displeased withhim. (narrated by Ibn Hibban in his Saheeh)
The greatest honor and gratification man can ever attain is Allah's
good pleasure. Allah makes His servants pleased with Himthrough the
multitude of blessings He bestows on them. In a verse of the Qur'an,
the reward for believers who are pleased with Allah, and with whom
Allah is pleased, is related as follows:
Their reward is with their Lord: Gardens of Eden with rivers flowing
under them, remaining in them timelessly, for ever and ever. Allah is
pleased with them and they are pleased with Him. That is for those who
fear their Lord. (Surat al-Bayyina: 8)
Allah's good pleasure is not only earned solely by performing certain
acts of worship at definite times. Allah's good pleasure is also
earned by conducting oneself correctly throughout one's lifetime. The
following verse informs us that a believer's entire life must be
oriented towards a single goal:
Say: "My prayer and my rites, my living and my dying, are for Allah
alone, the Lord of all the worlds." (Surat al-An'am:162)

ISLAMIC ARTICLE :- ~ Creation in Fruits

It is He Who stretched out the earth and placedfirmly embedded
mountains and rivers in it and made two types ofevery kind of fruit.
He covers over day with night. There are Signs in that for people who
reflect. (Surat ar-Rad, 3 )

Bijapur INDIA

The beautiful city of Bijapur is located in Karnataka in South India.
It is famous for the many historic marvels that dot the city. The
history of the city dates back to the 11thcentury when it was founded
by the Chalukya dynasty. They referred to it as Vijayapura.
It was since the 14th century that the city was being called Vijapur
or Bijapur when it came under the Bahamani sultanate of Gulbarga . The
city was taken over by theAdil shah dynasty in the 15th century. Much
of the city's greatness belongs tothe monuments that wereconstructed
during this period. After India's independence the place became part
of the Bombay state but it was restored to Mysore in 1956.
The city comprises people of both Aryan and Dravidian descent. Most of
the city's population is Hindu Lingayat. There are very few Christian
and Muslim communities in the region.
There are several world famous locations in the city such as the following:
*. Gol Gumbaz , one of thelargest domes in the world
*. Ibrahim Rauza , an architectural marvel
*. Jumma Masjid , the largest mosque in the area
*. Malik-e-Maidan, the largest medieval cannon in the world. There are
many more equally magnificent structures like Asar Mahal, Chand Bawdi,
Gagan Mahal, Barakaman and Upri Buruj. Besides these the city also has
several sprawling gardens.
Bijapur still maintains its royal character and the many monuments are
sure to acquaint one with the rich culture and tradition of the area.

Agra India : Plains : Uttar Pradesh

The Taj Mahal
Agra [1] is the city of the Taj Mahal, in the north Indian state of
Uttar Pradesh , some 200 km from Delhi .
Agra has three UNESCO World Heritage sites, the Taj Mahal and the Agra
Fort in the city and Fatehpur Sikri nearby. There are also many other
buildings and tombs from Agra's days of glory as the capital of the
Mughal Empire.
The city has little else to recommend it. Pollution, especially smog
and litter, is rampant and travellers are pestered by swarms oftouts
and hawkers at every monument, mosque,temple or palace. That said, the
sites are some of the wonders of the world and no trip to India is
complete without at least one visit to the Taj.
[ edit ] Understand
While Agra's heyday was as the capital of the Mughal empire between
1526 and 1658, the city was founded much earlier.The earliest
reference to Agra is in the ancient epic, the Mahabharata, while
Ptolemy was the first person to call it by its modern name. The
recorded history of Agra begins around the 11th century, and over the
next500 years, the city changed hands between various kings, both
Hindu and Muslim.
In 1506, Sultan Sikandar Lodi, the ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, moved
his capital from Delhi to Agra. His son Ibrahim Lodi was the last
ruler of the Lodi dynasty, as he was defeated in 1526 by Babur, the
first Mughal ruler, in the battle of Panipat. Agra fell too, and
became the capital of the Mughals, whose rule over Agra was
uninterrupted except for a brief period between 1540 and 1556. In
1540, Sher Shah Shuri overthrew Humayun became the ruler of much of
North India, including Agra. After Sher Shah Suri'sdeath his
descendants proved unequal to the task of ruling the kingdom, and
Hemu, a Hindu general of Suri became the effective ruler who would
later crown himself King HemachandraVikramaditya just as the kingdom
was facing an assault from the reinvigorated Mughals. In 1556, Hemu
would be defeated and killed in the second battle of Panipat, and the
Mughals regained Agra.
Mughals were great builders. Babur built the Aram Bagh (garden of
relaxation) modeled after the garden of paradise, where he was
eventually buried after his death. His grandson Akbar refurbished the
Agra fort and built the Fatehpur Sikri , an entire city just onthe
outskirts of Agra. He also renamed Agra after himself, and the city
was known as Akbarabad while it was in Mughal hands. Akbar's grandson
Shah Jehan would give Agra its most famous monument, the Taj Mahal ,
which is the mausoleum of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal . The Taj is
constructed in white marble. It took 20 years toconstruct, and is now
universally known as a monument to love. Legend has it that Shah Jehan
wanted a replica of the Taj constructed in black marble that would be
his final resting place. There is no actual support for this theory,
but even if it were true, it would havebeen unlikely to be eventuated.
His son Aurangzeb was austere and pious, and had no time or
inclination for the ostentation of his forefathers, preferring to
spend his money on wars in South India. In any case,even during Shah
Jehan's reign, which was the period when the Mughal empire was at its
height, the construction of the Taj put a strain on the resources of
the empire and caused a min-famine around Agra. Shah Jehan was
eventually buried in the white Taj, next to his beloved Begum.
Shah Jehan, in addition to giving Agra its greatest claim to fame, was
also responsible for beginning its decline, as decided to shift his
capital to Shahjehanabad, which we now know as Old Delhi, in 1658.
Though Aurangzeb ordered a move back, this too was short lived, as he
moved his headquarters down south to Aurangabad to be focus onhis
wars. Agra declined, and so did the Mughal Empire. The city was
eventually captured by theMarathas, who renamed it back to Agra. In
1803, it came under the British, who situated the Agra Presidency
there, and when India gained independence, the city was incorporated
into the state of Uttar Pradesh, anddid not gain even the limited
honour of being the state's capital, that distinction going to Lucknow
, further east. It isnow a tourist town, known for the Taj and a
couple of other monuments.
Anyone interested in reading a novel based on the remarkable story
behind the Taj Mahal's creation should consider Beneath a Marble Sky
by John Shors. Beneath a Marble Sky is an international bestseller,
has won multiple awards, and is being made into a movie by Hollywood.
Other book (historical fiction) is The Taj by Colin De Silva.
[ edit ] Get in
Agra is 200 km southeast from Delhi and is one of the points of the
tourist's Golden Triangle of Agra- Delhi - Jaipur . Agra is also very
well connected via rail/