Muhasabah

"In reality, to take account of ourselves on an annual basis is not
adequate. This is why theMashā'ikh have advised that a person should
do muhāsabah (self-assessment) daily.
The method of making muhāsabah is to allocate time to ponder upon the
actions carried out throughout the day. If good was done then thank
Allāh and resolve to continue; and if sin was committed then repent
and resolve to abstain from repeating the same in the future."

Sultan Mahmood Ghaznawi and the Thieves

One night Sultan Mahmood Ghaznawi went walking among his subjects
after taking off his royal clothes and putting on ordinary clothes. He
chanced to come upon a group of thieves who were consulting amongst
themselves. On seeing him they asked: "Who are you?"
The King (Sultan) replied:"I am also one like yourselves." They
understood that to mean that he was also a thief like themselves and
allowed him to join their company. They then continued the
conversation amongst themselves and it was decided that each one of
them should explain what speciality or skill hepossesses so that at
the time of need a task couldbe put before him to show that special
skill.
One of the thieves said: "Friends, I have a special gift in my ears,
that whenever a dog barks, I fully understand what hesays."
The second one said: "I have a special gift in my eyes, that whatever
I see in the darkness of night, Iam able to recognize it inthe light
of day."
The third one said: "I have this speciality in my arms that through
the strength that lies in my arms, I can make a hole in the strongest
wall, to enter a house."
The fourth one said: "I have this special gift in my nose that by
smelling the sand on the ground I am able to ascertain whether there
is any treasure buried underneath it or not. It isjust like in the
case of Majnoon, who without being told, merely by smelling the
ground, got to know where Layla wasburied."
The fifth one said: "I havesuch strength in my hands that no matter
how high a building is, I can climb along its wall with my rope ladder
and easily enter the building in this manner."
Thereafter they all asked the King: "O man, what special gift do you
possess which we can make use of in our thieving activities?"
The King replied: "I have this speciality in my beard that when
criminals are handed over to their executioner,I merely shake my beard
and such criminals are immediately set free." (Inother words, if as a
showof mercy I shake my beard, the criminals found guilty of murder,
are set free).
On hearing this the thieves said: "O dear Qutub, on the day of
difficulty, you will be our one means of salvation." (In other words,
if we arearrested, then through you blessings we will be saved. Now we
do not have to fear, because therest of us had the special gift which
would help us in our thieving exploits, but none of us had the means
of granting safety from punishment. This speciality lies only with
you. Now we need not have any fear of punishment. Now we canget on
with our work).
They all went in the direction of the palace ofShah Mahmood with the
King in their midst. Alongthe way a dog barked and the one who
understood the dog's language translated: "The King is also in you
midst." Although they heard it, no one paid anyattention to this
information, as their greed was uppermost in their minds. One of them
smelled the ground and explained that this is the Royal Palace . There
is a treasure in this place. Theother one threw a rope ladder against
the wall. The other one made a hole in the wall and they all entered
to burgle. Afterwards they divided the loot amongst themselves and
hastily each one of them went to hide his share of the spoils.
The King noted each one's description and found out where each of them
resided. He left them and secretly re-entered the Royal Palace . The
following day the King related the entire story to his courtiers and
thereafter sent the policemen to arrest them and to inform them of
their death sentence.
When they were broughtbefore the Court with hands bound together, they
were all trembling in fear before the King's throne. However, the
thief who had this special gift of recognizing anybody during the day
whom he had seen during the darkness, was quite at ease. In him
together with the signs of fear there were also sights of hope. In
other words, although he was struck by awe while standing before the
King and although fearing the King's wrath and revenge, he also had
the hope, that the King would be true to his word, that when in mercy
he shakes his beard, criminals will be set free. Furthermore he also
had the hope of setting free al his companions because the King will
surely not turn away from all those whom he knew and recognized.
This person's face was changing from yellow to red, as within himself
thefeelings of fear and hopealternated. The Sultan Mahmood in Kingly
dignity passed judgment that they all should be handed over to the
Executioner to be hung on the gallows. As the King himself was witness
to their crime, there was no need for any other witnesses.
As soon as the King announced his judgement, this person appealed in
great humility: "Sire, with you permission, may I say something?" The
King permitted him to speak and he said: "O Master, each one of us had
exhibited his special gift which helped in this crime. Now it is time
that the Kingly speciality should be exhibited according to the
promise. I have all the while recognized you. Remember you had
promised that in you beard there is this speciality, that if you cause
it to move in mercy, the criminal will be saved from punishment.
Hence, O King, shake you beard, sothat through the blessings of your
grace, all of us can be saved from the punishment of our crimes. Our
specialities have broughtus to the gallows. Now it is only you special
gift that is left which can save us from being punished of our crimes.
Our specialities have brought us to the gallows. Now it is only you
special gift that is left which can save us from being punished. Now
is the time for the exhibition of your speciality. Kindly shake your
beard. Because of fear our lives have reached right up to our mouths.
Please save us with the special gift that lies in your beard."
Sultan Mahmood smiled at the plea and became filled with mercy and
grace as he heard their pitiful admission of guilt. He said: "Each one
of you have exhibited his special quality to such an extent that it
has brought you to the brim of destruction, except in the case of this
one. He recognized me as the Sultan. He saw me in the darkness of the
night and recognized me as the Sultan. Hence for his having recognized
me, I set all of you free. I feel ashamed at those eyes which
recognized me notto shake my beard and thereby exhibit my special
quality."
Lessons
The first lesson containedis this story is that while a person is
committing a crime the true King of Kings is with him, and is fully
aware of all that he does. "And He is with youwherever you are." When
a person commits any disobedience to Allahhe is actually committing
treachery against Him. Anyone who fails in his duty to Allah or in the
rights which are due to me, is like a thief committing the theft of
Allah's treasures. For this reason, one should always bear in mind
that the Master is the witness, seeing us at all times, andis aware of
all that we do. If we commit any disobedience or iniquity, it means
that in His very presence His treasury is being looted and robbed.
Think for a moment! Whom are you robbing? That King and Master
tellsyou: "I am seeing what you do. I am with you. Mylaws have been
revealed to you. Today your breaking that law. Today,in this world I
will hide your fault, hoping that perhaps you will come upon the right
road. But if you do not come to your senses, then tomorrow on the day
of Qiyamat when you will be brought before Me, with hands bound
together, then who will be able to save you from My anger and
revenge?"
The second lesson from this story is that Allah willpunish sinners in
the hereafter although He may initially overlook them in this world.
We see that at the time the thieves were looting the Royal treasury,
the Sultanwitnessed the entire incident. He was with them and allowed
them to proceed without being punished. However in the end, he had
them arrested. If, at all times, this thought is uppermost in our
minds that Allah sees all our deeds then there will surely be fear in
the heart against committingsins.
The third lesson from thisstory is this that on the day of Qiyamat no
specialquality will be of any benefit. All those deeds which
contravene the laws of Allah will on the day of Qiyamat be boundaround
man's neck even though, in this world, they were considered as being
special qualities. The thieves mentioned those special gifts and
qualities as if the were qualities of virtue, but in reality those
very qualities were the cause of their destruction:
"Each one of them exhibited their special quality,
But all their qualities onlycaused their misfortune to increase."
Any special quality whichdoes not bring a person nearer to his
Creator, andwhich does not connect the heart to Allah, and which is
not a medium towards the remembrance of Allah is no quality of virtue.
In fact it is a cure and a misfortune. All the powers and attributes
of man which are used in rebellion against Allah and towards
disobedience and negligence, will one day cause him to be brought
before Allah as a criminal. All those nationswho have made great
progress and through scientific inventions havemade this world
subservient to them, but turn away from Allah, passing their lives in
disobedience, will realizeon the day of Qiyamat, whether the
speciality of scientific progress had been the cause of receiving
Allah's grace or His anger.
"Blessed be to you the subjugation of the sun and moon,
But if there is no light in the heart there is no lightanywhere."
The fourth lesson from this story is that no special quality will be
of benefit except that which leads towards recognizing Allah, just
like the person who having seen the Sultan, recognized him and through
this special quality, he not only savedhimself but was also able to
intercede on behalf of this companions. As for his other companions,
their special quality became a means towardsearning Allah's
punishment.
"Only the sight of the fortunate one was of anyuse
Who recognized the Sultan during darkness of night."
The lesson derived is thatthis world is like a place of darkness. In
the darkness of this world, every servant of Allah who follows the
Divine Laws of Shariat and through its blessings recognizes Allah,
will be provided with salvation against the punishment on hell-fire,
on the day ofQiyamat. This recognitionwill also be a means towards
intercession on behalf of other criminals,from among the sinners of
the people of faith. However, there should not be any pride and over
confidence in this recognition. In fact, one should alternate between
fear and hope and in utmost humility beg for this intercession. Then
Allah will accept this intercession from whomever He wishes according
to His Mercy . For those whom He will not accept this intercession, He
will in perfect justice exhibit Hisoverwhelming vengeance. Hence,
fortunate indeed is the person who, in the world, created within
himself the knowledge ofrecognizing Allah. The Aarifeen (True knowers
of Allah) who through their spiritual efforts andexercises recognize
Allah with their souls, will tomorrow on the day of Qiyamat see Allah
and attain salvation. Furthermore their intercession on behalf of
other sinners will also be accepted. But the disbelievers and
criminals will through their special qualities be admitted into
hell-fire. On that day these poor starving ones with pale faces,
patched coarse clothing, who today are being ridiculed and jeered at,
will feast their eyes upon the countenance of Allah. On that day, the
criminals will envy them:
"Would that we had livedlike them in the world and acquired their qualities.
Would that we had recognized Allah properly!"
The fifth lesson is this that the story also illustrates the high
position these righteous and saintly ones have as far as their
humanity is concerned. What a pity that nations and people, just like
those thieves, spend their short span of worldly lives looking upon
means of delight and comfort as special gift and accomplishment,and
look upon material progress as being actual progress. Whereas on
theother hand, they have adopted uncouth habits like urinating while
standing and cleansing themselves with paper after defecating. They
also consider it normal totake a bath sitting in a tub and allow the
water, which had become dirtied through being in contact with the anus
to be drawn into their mouth and nose. They consider those actions as
the norms of society. Can such people ever be considered to be
cultured and people of progress? What a pity it is that the beloved
cultural ways of Muslims should be cast aside and that such despicable
ways of these people should be adopted.

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And Allah Knows the Best!

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Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

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Story Part 4 - Moons Peak [FINISHED]- Settling In (chapter 4)

SETTLING IN TOOK SOME time to sink in.
I'd completely pulled my old blankets and sheets and replaced them
with silk and mink I'd conveniently packed. I refused to put my
clothesany were near the old dusty drawers. Besides, that'll only seem
like I wanted to be here. I didn't.
Aretha Heins called dinner, so I washed up and changed out of my long
blazer jacket. I didn't want to ruin it, so Ishrugged on a silk teal
blouse. It hung just above my thighs, so I left my tights on.
"Willow, we're waiting for you!" she called up the stairs again.
I scowled in the mirror. Still the same. No one eats unless everyone
is seated at the table. Seriously, these people practically lived in
the stone ages.
"Coming!" I yelled back and stole one last glance in the mirror and
rushed down the stairs.
I paused when I saw the table was full with guestsI couldn't recall
even being introduced to. I automatically felt out of place. Not just
the clothesand everything, but conversations were being thrown all
over thetable and I was afraid that I'll have no interests in it
whatsoever.
Empty plates, and full glasses of wine sat in front of them, but I
felt slightly uncomfortable to be here...until I spotted Grams. I
loosened up a bit. She smiled and nodded for me to take a seat.
"Come sit over here Willow," Aretha called, as her hand waved
frantically to the chair between her and Satchel.
Blinking, I noticed Satchel's cowboy hat hadbeen removed, astonished
to see what a man he'd really turned into. His face was out in full
view, displaying wisdom, and maturity.
I sagged my shoulders, feeling bad that for how I treated him in the
last couple of hours.
It wasn't his fault I was here, and it wasn't his fault that I was in
a bad mood because I had to be here. But seeing him, brought so many
memories back, it felt likeI was a little five year old girl all over
again.
He'd obviously found some soap in the last hour, because he cleanedup
nice as I noticed his hair was gelled back, anda clean shirt clung to
his skin.
His piercing gaze was something I remember: Light green eyes that
caught the light brilliantly. He'd always had that youthful face, but
his body was something else.
He'd grown up so much.
"You gonna stand there and stare, or sit down? I'm starving here,"
Satchel murmured, breaking me out of my thoughts.
Noticing I must've lookedlike a weirdo staring at him for so long. I
caught myself blushing and stumbled to find my seat. I watched as
Satchel's elbows dug onto the table and his hands clenched together in
a praying gesture, and frowned.
I was about to ask him what he was doing, and then Aretha started
chanting a verse. Right, she was saying grace, how could I forget?
I followed in suit, and voiced a quick, "Amen" and picked up my fork to eat.
I didn't want to be rude, but all I saw on the table was a fist load
of carbs, fat, and more carbs. I watched everyone dig in,chewing on my
lips thoughtfully.
"Potato and gravy?" Aretha offered.
I shook my head. "No thanks, I don't—" I stopped talking when Satchel
leaned in to whisper in my ear and my heart flipped a 180 as he did
so.
I eyed him warily as he invaded my personal space, giving me a whiff
of his natural scent.
"I don't remember you turning down food? You used to devour mash like
ice-cream." He had a half smile on his face, as cocked an eyebrow up
ininterest.
He was right, I'd been a food lover. There wasn't one thing I didn't
like eating. Except peas, I despised peas. But growing up in New
York?And a school reputation? Well, there was only so much you could
eat to stay thin, and good looking. Carbs was on theno-no list.
I noticed he had a faint smell of aftershave on too, I was fighting
off theurge to inhale it, when he went back to digging in. He took the
bowl fromhis mother and scooped three or four loads on hisplate.
"You're really gonna eat all that?" I asked, surprised hitting my
voice. He scoffed like I'd said something stupid.
He raised an eyebrow as he reached for another bowl, and
shrugged."Unless, you want some?"He asked, shoving the meat bowl
toward me.
I shook my head and wrinkled my nose. I wasn't a big fan of red meat,
though I'd eat it if Ihad to.
He shrugged and grabbed the bowl of meat, slapping piles of it on his
plate. He didn't stop until his plate had it's own summit.
I watched in awe as Satchel made use with a knife and fork, making a
clean tidy work with the food, as if savoring it. I marveled at his
table manners, and his polite conversation starters.
His attention divided, always complimenting something or someone. He
wiped his mouth with a napkin and froze. I'd just been caught staring.
He scowled, throwing his napkin back on the table."You know you gotta
cut that out." He said a little annoyed. I cleared my throat.
"Cut what out?"
He glared. "The staring, you know it's rude to stare."
I bit my lips, slightly embarrassed at my rudimentary manners."Sorry,
just...whatever."
I went back to my almost empty plate because I was sure he was going
tomake me say things I didn't want my grandmother overhearing how foul
mymouth could get, and decided to ignore him altogether.
I'd managed to find someveggies, and a spoon full of meat. So, I
picked at it trying to avoid his eyes.
I looked up when someone addressed me with a question. It was a little
girl about seven years old sitting on the other side of him. She had
reddish brown hair, and light green eyes. She smiled trying to see
past Satchel.
"Are you Satchel's girlfriend?" The way she said "girlfriend"
soundedlike she was singing it.
I almost choked on my veggies. I'm sure I hadn't blushed this much in
less than twenty four hours.
"Shut up Derryn!" Satchelmuttered, his eyes giving her a 'warning'
look. I shook my head.
"Ah...no, just a..." I was struggling for a word. She giggled.
"That's not what Satchel said. He-" By this time, Satchel had covered
her mouth and whispered in her ear. She had a whining look on her
face, and went back to eating.
"Who's she?" I asked finally.
"Derryn, my little sister," said Satchel, as he chewed on a mouthful.
I struggled to recall if Satchel had a sister. He didn't as far as I
remembered. As if reading my mind, he answered.
"You were gone by the time she found out she was pregnant," he added.
I nodded absent mindedly. I wanted to ask him how his mother ended up
in a wheel chair, but I couldn't find the words. He'd already finished
his meal and wiped a napkin over his mouth.
He muttered a quick 'excuse me' and left the table.
I looked around the tableand all the adults were deep in conversation.
So I decided to follow him.

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And Allah Knows the Best!

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Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

Passages about Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh) in the Torah

Jewish sources say the Mahdi (pbuh) will appear from Istanbul. Judaic
sources dating back 3000 years. "Just as Moses, after revealing
himself to his brethren in Egypt and announcingthem to that
deliverancewas near" after making his presence felt and saying that
the reign of Islam was nigh, "was forced to go into hiding for a
time,…" The Mahdi (pbuh) will remain hidden. His time of seclusion is
being described. "so also will Messiah be forced to hide himself after
the first revelations." He will remain hidden. Our Prophet (pbuh) also
says,"The Mahdi (pbuh) will remain hidden." It is the same, do you
see? (Numbers Rabbah, Chap. II; Song of Songs Rabbah, (2:9); Pesikta
Rabbathi, Chap. 36)
Song of Songs 2/9. "Just as Moses was raised in the House of Pharaoh
in Egypt," It will happen in Istanbul. Where there are Darwinists and
materialists. It says it willbe in Istanbul. "Both hadto appear and
then hide." He will closely resemble the Prophet Moses (pbuh). In the
hadiths, our Prophet (pbuh) says he will resemble the Prophet Moses
(pbuh) in that respect. "He will remain concealed like the Prophet
Moses (pbuh)," he says in a hadith. Look,a book dating back 3000years
says the Prophet Moses (pbuh) will be concealed, insha'Allah. "To be
sure, the "light of the Messiah" which is to shine wondrously into the
world, is not always seen as breaking in withcomplete suddenness;"
Itsays he will not appear all at once, the Mahdi (pbuh). "it may
become visible by gradations and stages..." He will appear gradually,
it says. "It is told of Rabbi Hiyya and Rabbi Simeon that they walked
in the valleyof Arbela early in the morning and saw the dawn breaking
on the horizon. Thereupon Rabbi Hiyya said: So too is Israel's
redemption [through King Messiah]; at first it will be only very
slightly visible, thenit will shine forth more brightly and only
afterwards will it break forth in all of its glory." What does
Bediüzzaman say? "Even if there is a false dawn, the true dawn will
appear in 30-40 years' time." The Sun will appear, he says. What does
it say here? There will be a false dawn first. The first rays of the
Sun will be seen, then will com the true dawn, the Sun. The Torah says
what Bediüzzaman said 3000 years later. The same. "Just as Moses was
raisedin the House of Pharaoh in Egypt, so the Messiah will be in
Rome. Both had to appear and then hide.
In the same way that Moses (pbuh) was raised in the house of
Pharaoh,among the enemies of his own people, the Messiah (pbuh) will
grow up in the city of Rome, in Istanbul." In other words, somewhere
in which people live by Darwinism and materialism. He will strive
against Darwinismand materialist belief.
Istanbul is the place of saintly figures, but also one of antichrists.
The Torah notes this fact. Look, a blessed individual such as the
Mahdi (pbuh) is there, but there are also people like satan there, the
supporters of the antichrist. "Ben Levi meets the Prophet Elias and
asks, 'Where can I find Moshe, the Mahdi (pbuh)?' Elias replies, 'goto
the gate of Rome, of Istanbul'." Masha'Allah, Topkapı. Istanbul has a
number of gates. "You will find him there." You will find him in
Istanbul, he says. How many yearsago? Three thousand years.